BPSC Protest Big Breaking: Prashant Kishor, sitting on indefinite hunger strike, detained in Patna, police vacate Gandhi Maidan

Jan Suraaj party chief Prashant Kishor, who was protesting at Gandhi Maidan in Patna, was detained by Bihar Police.

Patna: In the latest development regarding the Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) exam paper leak, Jan Suraaj chief Prashant Kishor, who had been on an indefinite hunger strike at Gandhi Maidan, was detained by the police in the early hours of Monday. Kishor is protesting against the alleged paper leak and demanding strict action to address the issue.

Cops also vacated Gandhi Maidan where the Jan Suraaj chief was protesting on a fast-unto-death with the protestors. Cops also checked the vehicles leaving from the spot.

Kishor was sitting on a fast-unto-death protest over the irregularities in the BPSC exam. The protest was launched on January 2 to support protesting students demanding a cancellation of the Bihar Public Service Commission exam.

#WATCH | BPSC protest | Bihar: Patna Police detains Jan Suraaj chief Prashant Kishor who was sitting on an indefinite hunger strike at Gandhi Maidan pic.twitter.com/cOnoM7EGW1

— ANI (@ANI) January 5, 2025

He was taken into an ambulance by the police. Before being detained, the Jan Suraaj chief said the party would file a petition in the High Court on January 7 over BPSC irregularities.

“It is not a matter of decision for us whether we will continue this (protest) or not. We will continue doing what we are doing now, there will be no change in it…We (Jan Suraaj Party) will file a petition in the High Court on the 7th,” said Prashant Kishor.

Earlier on Sunday, Prashant Kishor sat down with protesting students at Gandhi Maidan in Patna. He also urged the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav to lead the protest as he is a “tall” leader and also the Leader of Opposition (LoP).

Kishor was responding to remarks made by the former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister. He stated that Yadav, being the LoP, should have taken the lead in the protest instead of him.

“He (Tejashwi Yadav) is a tall leader. He is also the LoP. He should have led the protests. I have been telling them to lead the protest. We will step aside. He said that he was coming to Gandhi Maidan with five lakh people. Students (and their issues) should be talked about. Politics can happen whenever. We don’t have any party banner here. We care about the agenda of the students,” the Jan Suraaj founder told reporters.

“This is not a dharna. This is the passion of the people of Bihar to better their conditions, to secure a better future. In this cold weather, some are singing and you can see people from across the board sitting here. I am tired of answering accusations. Look around, and spot the vanity van if you can. We will sleep here too,” Kishor said.

On Saturday, Tejashwi Yadav accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of politicising the issue of BPSC protest.

Speaking to ANI, he accused the independent movement of students of being politicised and said that these people joining the protest were the B team of the BJP.

“It is being completely politicised. We feel that the people of Bihar will have to recognise these people who are the BJP’s ‘B’ team and are trying to crush this independent movement. This is highly condemnable,” he said.

On the controversy surrounding Jan Suraaj Chief Prashant Kishor’s vanity van, Yadav stated, “An attempt was made to end the movement. Actors sit in the vanity van and the producer and the director make them sit, we know who is the producer who the director is, and why the actor was made to sit. Everyone knows.”

The students are calling for the cancellation of the Integrated Combined (Preliminary) Competitive Examination (CCE) 2024, conducted by the BPSC on December 13, due to alleged question paper leaks.

(With agency inputs)