Bihar Students Clash with Police in Patna Over BPSC Exam Irregularities
Patna, Bihar – A demonstration by students demanding the cancellation of the 70th Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) examination turned tense on Tuesday as protesters clashed with police while marching towards Raj Bhavan. The march, which began from Gandhi Maidan, saw participants break through barricades in an attempt to reach the governor's residence, leading to a physical confrontation with law enforcement personnel.
The protest is part of a broader wave of student unrest that has previously been witnessed in Delhi and Jharkhand. The agitators are not only seeking the cancellation of the BPSC exam, which they allege was conducted with irregularities, but are also objecting to the proposed structure of the Teacher Recruitment Examination - Fourth Phase (TRE-4). Students are demanding that TRE-4 be conducted in a single phase across the state and that the official advertisement for the exam be released promptly.
To maintain order, scores of police personnel were deployed at major intersections along the route. Kamakhya Narayan Singh, Sub-Divisional Police Officer (Law and Order), said that talks with the students were underway. “We have put up barricades, and senior officers have also arrived here. A large number of personnel have been deployed, and talks with the students are also underway. The talks are positive. I hope many students have understood that several of their demands have been accepted, so the scale of the protest should be much smaller. Despite that, if students come, we will stop them and will not allow them to move forward,” Singh said.
At the protest site, Congress leader Sushil Kumar reiterated the students' demands. “We want to state clearly that a single-stage examination must be implemented for TRE 4.0 at all costs, and negative marking should be abolished. There are numerous other issues as well, regarding the BPSC, BSSC, Sub-Inspector recruitment. The government has offered no assurances on any of these points. We have urged the Chief Minister to hold a dialogue; he should invite our delegation for talks. We have been on a hunger strike for nine days, yet no one is willing to listen to us. Just imagine, had the government engaged in dialogue, this situation would not have arisen. We are heading towards the Chief Minister's residence; the Chief Minister should hold talks, and our delegation will go there for the discussion,” Kumar told ANI.
Meanwhile, Bihar Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Yadav wrote to Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary regarding the ongoing BPSC examination row, urging him not to ignore the protesters' demands and to engage in constructive dialogue to find an immediate resolution. The Rashtriya Janata Dal, which Yadav leads, has extended its support to the agitation. Fourteen student and youth organisations, including the Revolutionary Youth Association, SSAI, and Chhatra Yuva Sangharsh Morcha, have also backed the demonstration.
As the protests intensified, Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary announced the launch of a monthly 'Vidyarthi Sahyog Shivir' (student support camps) to address students' grievances. “The Bihar government is launching Vidyarthi Sahyog Shivir starting today to ensure prompt resolution of students' grievances. These camps will be organised at educational institutions on the fourth Tuesday of every month,” the Chief Minister wrote in a social media post. He added that students would also be able to register complaints online and track their status through a portal and Helpline 1100.
In a separate development, BPSC Examination Controller Rajesh Kumar, while responding to questions about alleged irregularities and paper leaks, made a remark that drew criticism. He said, “Haathi chale bazaar, kutta bhaunke hazaar” (An elephant walks through the market while a thousand dogs bark). Tejashwi Yadav claimed that this comment reflects the Chief Minister's own language. The remark has been widely seen as dismissive of the protesters' concerns, though the examination controller has not issued a formal clarification.
