Jharkhand protests: Soren targets BJP for its ‘student guise for political gains’

Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Tuesday, 11 August, accused the BJP of using the student movement over alleged irregularities in recruitment examinations to pursue political interests, as he defended his government's handling of the protests and announced further steps to reform the recruitment process.

Speaking in the Assembly amid continued Opposition protests, Soren alleged that some people were hiding behind different identities to mislead young people and said BJP leaders were now using the "student's guise" to serve political interests.

He also accused the Opposition of trying to prevent investigations into recruitment irregularities from reaching their conclusion.

Soren said the government was prepared to cancel the 14th JPSC Preliminary Examination and the backlog recruitment examinations. It would also investigate examinations linked to TDPL, the agency involved in conducting recruitment tests, he said.

The Chief Minister said the government would seek the expertise of premier institutions such as the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) to overhaul the recruitment system and make examinations more transparent and secure.

He questioned the role of TDPL, saying the company was based in Uttar Pradesh and had links with Bihar, and alleged that such agencies had been involved in processes that harmed the interests of Jharkhand's youth.

The government, Soren said, would not back down from investigating examinations over which doubts and complaints had been raised.

His remarks came a day after police used batons to disperse students who had entered the Jharkhand Assembly premises during a protest over alleged irregularities in recruitment examinations.

Soren said the administration and police had shown restraint during Monday's protest, pointing out that security restrictions applied around constitutional institutions such as the Assembly, Parliament and legislative councils.

Police have maintained that around 90% of the protesters were peaceful and that only a small number resorted to stone-pelting and threw shoes and slippers at security personnel. They said "mild force" was used to disperse protesters after some entered the Assembly premises.

Soren’s allegation that BJP tried to incite protesters in Ranchi received support from unexpected quarters. All India Students’ Association (AISA) affiliated to the CPI-ML, which is at the forefront of the protests in Jharkahand, issued a warning saying, “Anti-social elements brought by BJP were caught on camera trying to criminalise the J’khand students’ movement. AISA stands for peaceful democratic protest & rejects all violence. J’khand govt can’t use these anti-social elements to brand the whole movement as violent”.

AISA also reacted sharply to the police describing police action as a minor lathi charge and said, “When students are bleeding, women report assault by male police & journalists are attacked, calling it a “minor lathi-charge” is an insult to every eyewitness in Ranchi. SP Paras Rana is not defending law and order; he is defending police brutality.”

The Jharkhand government has maintained that it has accepted most of the protesters' demands. However, it has not agreed to cancel the 2026 Combined Graduate Level (CGL) examination or order a CBI probe into alleged systemic corruption.

The government has argued that the CGL examination was monitored by the High Court, which did not find any large-scale irregularities, and that the Supreme Court subsequently cleared the appointment process.

The state has agreed to cancel the 14th JPSC Preliminary Examination and the 2023-25 backlog recruitment examinations. It remains unclear whether the protesters' demand for a CBI inquiry relates only to the CGL examination or to recruitment examinations conducted over several years.

Soren also sought to emphasise the government's efforts to engage directly with students. He said more than 8,500 suggestions had been received on improving the recruitment process and examinations and appealed to young people to continue sending suggestions through the government's portal.

The government, he said, was not merely interested in discussing students' problems but was serious about finding solutions with the help of stakeholders.

The protests have also acquired a political dimension, with the BJP and its student wing, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, backing the agitating students. The BJP on Tuesday called a statewide bandh over the police action, which received a mixed response, with schools, colleges and public transport affected in several areas while many shops remained open.

BJP legislators also walked out of the Assembly after alleging corruption in recruitment and made a symbolic gesture by throwing currency notes before leaving the House.

Leader of the Opposition in the Bihar Assembly Babulal Marandi separately accused the Jharkhand government of a cover-up and released a poster depicting Soren as Adolf Hitler.

Soren, meanwhile, said the BJP was attempting to mislead students and use their grievances for political purposes. He also launched a sharp political attack on the party during his Assembly speech, asserting that its political decline had only begun.

While BJP and the RSS have openly supported the protesters and have tried to draw a parallel between protests at Jantar Mantar and Ranchi, the conduct of Jharkhand Police and the state government has been a study in contrast. The Soren government opened a dialogue with the protesters, accepted that several of their grievances were genuine and instructed the police to exercise restraint and empathy. Visuals of policemen offering their shields to the protesters to protect themselves from rain have shown how different they have been from Delhi Police.