New Delhi: Hundreds of aspirants are demanding cancellation of the 70th Combined Preliminary Examination—first stage of the Bihar Combined Competitive Examination (CCE) conducted by Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) for recruitment of candidates for administrative posts in Bihar government—by staging a protest at Patna’s Gardanibagh.
Three of the six students who had been on an indefinite hunger strike at Gardanibagh since 20 December have been hospitalised.
While BPSC dismissed protesting students’ allegations of a widespread question paper leak as a “rumour”, aspirants insisted that their claims were legitimate.
Chaos erupted Wednesday night when police resorted to a lathi charge against aspirants marching towards the BPSC office in Patna. Three protesters were hospitalised, and around 50 were seriously injured reportedly as a result of the lathi charge. “The police brutally lathi-charged students. Female aspirants were also abused, with the police hitting them in the stomach. The government should not treat students this way,” Ashutosh Kishor, an aspirant who appeared for the BPSC preliminary examination, told ThePrint.
“Rohit sir and Ramanshu sir have been sitting with us on the ground for the last 10 days. The police hit them with lathis, and later at night, they came in civilian clothes and detained Rohit sir,” Kishor alleged, referring to two educators who have endorsed the protesting students’ demand.
The protest, launched by nearly 700 students on 18 December, intensified after an aspirant who had appeared from the preliminary examination died by suicide Tuesday night.
Protesters have also received the support of Bihar’s Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Yadav, Independent MP from Purnia Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav, and members of the Prashant Kishor-led Jan Suraaj Party. Tejashwi criticised the state government by writing in a post on X that “mentally ill people are running the state”.
Anu Kumari, sub-divisional police officer of Patna Secretariat-1 police station, meanwhile, told local media Wednesday that a group of people was staging a sit-in protest at the designated Gardanibagh site, demanding cancellation of the prelims exam.
“On Wednesday, 25 December, the protest escalated when participants entered a restricted area near the BPSC office on Nehru Path, away from the designated protest site at Gardanibagh. Despite repeated requests to return to the designated site, the protesters did not comply,” Kumari said. “Some individuals sat on a dharna at the restricted area and were removed using mild force. An FIR has been registered against those who entered the restricted area, created law and order problems, spread rumors, and incited others.”
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Re-examination at Patna centre
The BPSC preliminary examination was conducted on 13 December at 912 centres across Bihar. Reports in the media emerged, however, that at Bapu Nagar center, where around 12,000 students appeared for the examination, a question paper was leaked.
“The question paper was delivered late at our centre, and when we received it, it was torn. After numerous complaints, BPSC decided to retake the examination for the 12,000 students at Bapu Nagar,” Sudhanshu Anand, a protesting aspirant, told ThePrint.
“But the question paper had already been circulated on Telegram and WhatsApp before the examination, and there is ample evidence to support this,” he claimed.
Reacting to the claims, BPSC held a press conference on 16 December, announcing a re-examination for students who appeared for the exam at Bapu Nagar center. But, thousands of other aspirants took to the streets, demanding a re-examination for all candidates.
“It has been almost 10 days since we started protesting. No one from the government or the authorities has come to meet us. When we decided to march to the BPSC office, we were welcomed with lathis,” Kishor said.
At a press conference in Purnia Wednesday, Lok Sabha MP Pappu Yadav called for a Bihar bandh on 1 January, 2025 if the preliminary examination were not cancelled. “I demand an investigation into the matter by a high court bench,” he said.
Despite mounting pressure, BPSC has made it clear that it has no intention of cancelling the examination. It said that only candidates from the Bapu Nagar center would need to appear for a re-examination, which is scheduled for 4 January, 2025.
Additionally, BPSC has urged eligible candidates to prepare for the next stage of the Bihar CCE tentatively scheduled for April 2025.
(Edited by Radifah Kabir)
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