‘Water cannon, lathi charge in this harsh cold inhuman’: Priyanka Gandhi Vadra slams Bihar govt over BPSC protests | India News

NEW DELHI: Congress leader and Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi on Monday lashed out at the bihar government after police charged lathi charge against protesting Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) aspirants demanding re-examination of 70th BPSC preliminary exams.
“Students were tortured for the second time in three days in Bihar. It is the government’s job to stop corruption, manipulation and leak of papers in exams,” Priyanka Gandhi wrote in X.

Priyanka, attacking the double-engine BJP government, suggested that the voices of protesting students are being stifled by police action. “Instead of stopping corruption, students are being prevented from raising their voices. Water cannons and lathi attack on youth in this harsh cold is inhumane. The BJP’s double engine has become a symbol of double atrocities against young people,” he said.
Priyanka’s reaction follows her brother Rahul Gandhi’s criticism of the BJP and NDA government Early last week, he compared the incident to the “Eklavya thumb” example, saying the young man’s future is being cut short in the same way by “leaking the papers.”
However, it is not just the Congress Party that has criticized the NDA government in Bihar. The police action has drawn condemnation from other opposition parties also within the INDIA bloc. Bigwigs from parties like the RJD and AAP have joined the chorus against the Bihar government.
Former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav termed the police action against the aspirants as “painful” and condemned it. “It is very painful how the police beat up the BPSC aspirants. Many people are seriously injured. We condemn this. The images that have emerged are distressing. As a youth, I can understand their situation,” the RJD leader said, according to news agency ANI.
Meanwhile, AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh described the incident as an example of “dictatorship of an autocratic government”, adding that this behavior was unexpected on the part of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
“Deadly lathi charge by police against BPSC candidates. Treating young people, who have been on hunger strike for many days, like animals, is a flagrant example of dictatorship. Nitish Ji, who emerged from the student movement, did not expect this from you,” wrote Sanjay Singh on X, sharing a video of the incident.

He urged the Bihar government to address the students’ demands, saying “the country will not be governed with sticks but with dialogue and the Constitution.”
Additionally, Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor joined the protesting students and called for an end to corruption in the Bihar examination process. However, Kishor received an FIR for “unauthorized assembly, incitement and disorderly conduct”.
Aspirants have been leading a protest for over a week, urging the cancellation of the 70th Combined Integrated Competitive (Preliminary) Examination (CCE), 2024, conducted by the BPSC over allegations of question paper leak.