BPSC: Prashant Kishor begins fast unto death, calling for exam cancellation

Jan Suraaj founder Prashant Kishor has on Thursday, 2 January 2025, begun a fast unto death to press his demand for the cancellation of an examination recently held by the Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC).

Kishor made the announcement at the historic Gandhi Maidan in the state capital, three days after giving the Nitish Kumar government a '48-hour ultimatum' to act on the demand raised by aggrieved candidates.

The administration, however, said the hunger strike at Gandhi Maidan is illegal, as it is not the designated site for holding protests.

"My primary demand, of course, is cancellation of the exam held on 13 December 2024 and conducting a fresh test," said Kishor, who was accompanied by a number of supporters.

"I have also heard allegations that posts to be filled by the exam were virtually put on sale. Such corrupt officials must be identified and brought to justice," he added.

The Gandhi Maidan venue is barely a couple of kilometres from Gardani Bagh, where the aggrieved aspirants have been holding a round-the-clock sit-in for nearly two weeks now.

The 47-year-old former poll strategist, who hopes his fledgling party will make a big impact in the assembly polls due in less than a year, also made it clear that the demands he is making are just a few of the things on which he expected the government to act.

Striking a populist note, the former JD(U) vice president said he wanted the state's NDA government to "bring in a domicile policy, reserving two-thirds of government vacancies for candidates from the state".

He added: "The injustice done to the state's youth by the current regime goes long back. Before his ascent to power, the chief minister (Nitish Kumar) had toured the state and promised unemployment doles. Not a single person has got the benefit even after 20 years. The government must start giving unemployment allowance".

Kishor also demanded a white paper on the several competitive exams held in the last 10 years that were marred by question paper leaks and claimed that the government demonstrated its inability to crack down on the education mafia suspected to be behind the malpractices.

The Jan Suraaj leader's aggressive stance comes in the wake of scorn heaped on him by both ruling and opposition leaders in the state, after a demonstration he staged on Sunday, 29 December 2024, ended in lathi charge and the use of water cannons by the police.

Referring to the police action, Kishor said, "Officials who have converted democracy into 'rule by force' must be booked".

Meanwhile, the district administration said in a statement that the dharna staged by Kishor and his nearly 150 supporters at Gandhi Maidan is illegal.

'The Patna High Court has clearly ordered that no demonstration is allowed anywhere in the city except the designated spot in Gardani Bagh. Hence, an FIR is being lodged against Kishor and his supporters. They are also being served with a notice to either move to Gardani Bagh or face legal action,' the statement added.

In a related development, the CPI(ML) Liberation announced that its students' wing AISA will, along with like-minded organisations, stage a demonstration in front of the chief minister's residence "to compel Nitish Kumar to break his silence" on the issue on Friday, 3 January.

"Thousands of young men and women, from across Bihar, will gather in Patna for tomorrow's protest. The government will have to cancel the exam and order fresh tests, besides taking action against erring officials," said the Left party.

Notably, nearly 5 lakh candidates had appeared for Combined Competitive Exams held on 13 December when hundreds of examinees, all of them at the Bapu Pariksha Parisar here, boycotted the tests alleging that question papers had been leaked.

This was met with a strong denial from the BPSC, which claimed the allegations were 'a conspiracy' to force the exam's cancellation, even as fresh tests were ordered for more than 10,000 candidates who had appeared at Bapu Pariksha Parisar.

The candidates have been asked to appear on 4 January 2025 at 22 newly designated centres across the city.

This was resented by some of the candidates, who hold that such an arrangement militated against the principle of ensuring a 'level playing field'.

On Monday, 30 December 2024, an 11-member delegation — of which Kishor's party colleague and retired IPS officer R.K. Mishra was a part — met chief secretary Amrit Lal Meena, in what appeared to be the government's overture to end the stalemate.

The government has also been maintaining that any decision on the matter would have to be taken by the BPSC, an autonomous body.

However, a recent statement from senior minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary, a key aide of the chief minister, that there was 'no evidence' to show that question papers were leaked for the 13 December exam made it amply clear that the government was unwilling to intervene in a manner that would satisfy the protesting candidates.