Prashant Kishor asks Rahul Gandhi, Tejashwi Yadav to join Bihar students’ protest​on January 5, 2025 at 12:14 pm

Prashant Kishor asks Rahul Gandhi, Tejashwi Yadav to join Bihar students’ protest

​Prashant Kishor asks Rahul Gandhi, Tejashwi Yadav to join Bihar students’ protest Prashant Kishor asks Rahul Gandhi, Tejashwi Yadav to join Bihar students’ protest   

Political strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor, who has been on an indefinite hunger strike since Thursday demanding the cancellation of the Bihar Civil Services (BPSC) examination, sought the support of Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MLA Tejashwi Yadav.

The Jan Suraaj chief joined thousands of candidates on Thursday, who have been demanding the cancellation of the 70th Integrated Combined Competitive (Preliminary) Examination (CCE), 2024, conducted by the BPSC over allegations of question paper leak.

Addressing a press conference at Gandhi Maidan in Patna on Sunday, Kishor said that the protest was “above party politics”.

“Last night, the candidates formed a 51-member committee called ‘Yuva Satyagraha Samiti’ (YSS), which will steer this movement of which I am just a part. Everyone is welcome to support the movement, including Rahul Gandhi, who has 100 MPs, and Tejashwi Yadav, who has more than 70 MLAs,” Kishor said.

“These leaders are much bigger than us. They can get five lakh people to gather at the Gandhi Maidan…this is the time to do so. The future of the youth is at stake. We are faced with a brutal regime which has ordered lathi charges 87 times in just three years,” he added.

The Jan Suraaj chief stated that he did not expect any BJP leaders to join the protest, claiming they lacked “the courage to speak against their own government”. However, he added that any BJP leader who decides to join the protest “guided by conscience” would be welcomed.

Kishor also said that all members of the Yuva Satyagraha Samiti were from different political organisations, who had come “under one umbrella to unitedly fight for the cause of the students”.

Prashant Kishor said that it was not only a movement for the cancellation of the BPSC, but a “matter of civil rights”.

“No matter how powerful the government is, there is no power greater than the people’s power,” he added.

Notably, the BPSC had ordered the retest of a few candidates who had appeared in the December 13 exam, on Saturday. The retest was held at 22 centres in Patna.

Out of a total of 12,012 candidates, around 8,111 aspirants had downloaded their admit cards. However, 5,943 students appeared for the retest.

(With inputs from PTI)