While the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Congress on Tuesday questioned the Bharatiya Janata Party over its claims of ‘One Nation-One Election’ when it failed to conduct an examination on the same date, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati urged the Uttar Pradesh government to pay attention to the ongoing row over the question paper leak and the conduct of the Uttar Pradesh Union Public Service Commission’s (UPPSC) exam.

Expressing support for the ongoing agitation of students against the decision of the State Public Service Commission (UPPSC) to conduct the PCS Pre and RO/ARO examination over two days, Mayawati on Tuesday asked whether Uttar Pradesh lacked the basic facilities to conduct the examination in a single day, to the extent that a special exam like PCS had to be conducted over two days.

Mayawati wrote on the social media platform X that it is natural for news related to the situation arising from police action on students, who were angry over the failure of the Uttar Pradesh Union Public Service Commission to conduct the preliminary examination 2024 of PCS and RO-ARO on the same day, to be widely discussed.She asked the government whether Uttar Pradesh lacked such basic facilities to conduct exams in a single day, forcing special exams like PCS to be conducted over two days.

She stressed that stopping paper leaks and ensuring the credibility of exams were crucial issues, for which a single-exam system was necessary.

“The government should pay attention to this,”

she added.

Mayawati also said that the government’s attitude towards students, who are already bearing the brunt of poverty, unemployment, and inflation, should not be cruel but cooperative and sympathetic. She added that the sooner the government completes the recruitment process for all the vacant posts, the better.

“People are in dire need of livelihoods,” she remarked.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and Congress leaders have already lashed out at the Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government in the state over the massive protests by aspirants against the UPPSC exam dates.

The SP chief described the agitation from the aspirants as “Yogi vs competitor students” and said that the BJP government would now run bulldozers over students' hostels or lodges.

“If the BJP had run the government with the same intensity with which it is running the bulldozer of injustice, then today the BJP members would not have to hide in their homes fearing student anger. Scared by the anger of the agitators, BJP flags have been removed from the houses, shops, establishments, and vehicles of BJP members,” Akhilesh said.

He further stated that people were now rejecting the divisive communal politics and embracing positive politics that unites.

“No one is ready to become a mental slave now,” he added.

Akhilesh Yadav also asked whether the BJP government would run bulldozers over the hostels or lodges of students.

He accused the BJP of dividing society and declared that “the rise of the students will be the fall of the BJP.”

He posted on X, “Unhone chalaya lathi-danda, ‘Naukri’ nahi jinka agenda.”

Targeting the government again on Tuesday, Akhilesh stated that while elections could be held simultaneously across the country, conducting simultaneous examinations in one state was not possible.

“BJP’s hypocrisy has been exposed,” he wrote.

“Talks of reaching the moon and thinking of hell, now the government of liars and talkative ministers will not work. Candidates of today say: ‘We don’t want BJP. Jobs will come when BJP goes’,” he added.

He also remarked that elections were only on BJP’s agenda, and the only thing that candidates received under BJP rule was stress.

Uttar Pradesh Congress spokesman Anshu Awasthi also joined the SP in the attack, questioning the Party that talks of ‘One Nation-One Election’ but struggles to conduct an entrance examination at the same time.

He alleged that the BJP had failed to provide jobs to the youth and, to further cheat them, continued with the propaganda of conducting examinations and then cancelling them for reasons such as paper leaks or court writs to delay the process.

Meanwhile, aspirants continued their protest on Tuesday outside the UPPSC office, demanding that the PCS and RO/ARO exams be held on a single day and in one shift. The students are protesting against the upcoming exams, insisting that tests should be conducted in a single shift, as was previously done.