Pappu Yadav joins student protesters, begins hunger strike in Patna

Independent MP Pappu Yadav, who supports the INDIA bloc, on Sunday, August 16, sat on a hunger strike at a protest site in Patna over alleged irregularities in the 70th Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) exams, among other issues.

Research scholars, along with BPSC and Bihar Staff Selection Commission (BSSC) aspirants, are protesting in Patna's Gardanibagh area over a range of issues, including new rules on the recruitment of assistant professors and inconsistencies in the state civil services examination.

Yadav said the 70th BPSC exam should be scrapped and re-conducted afresh.

"Research scholars have been on hunger strike for the last 13 days, but there is nobody to listen to them. Neither the chief minister nor Bihar's education minister is paying heed to their grievances.

The education minister talks about introducing the UPSC mains pattern in BPSC exams, which is bereft of any logic. The entire system is in a mess," Yadav told reporters.

He alleged marking inconsistencies in the 70th BPSC exam, frequent question paper leaks, police brutality against protesting students in the state, and disproportionate weightage given to the English language in government exams.

"The government itself accepted that the question paper of the 70th BPSC examination had leaked. Such incidents have happened even before. However, when students protest against such inconsistencies, they are beaten up and sent to jail," he said.

Yadav accused the government of "continuously committing injustice" against students and "refusing to listen to them."

"Students are seriously concerned about TRE-4 exam notification. Additionally, the government accords disproportionate weightage to English-medium candidates vis-a-vis those opting Hindi, which is contrary to UGC and NET rules," Yadav said.

Yadav also accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of labelling all educated youth of the country as "intellectual Naxals."

Modi, during his Independence Day speech on Saturday, had said that "while armed Naxals are eliminated in the country, we will have to identify and isolate intellectual Naxals."

(Inputs from PTI)