Congress Alleges BJP Mobilised Outsiders To Disrupt Students’ Protest In Jharkhand
Congress accuses BJP of disrupting student protests.
The Congress on Wednesday accused the BJP of politicising the ongoing students’ agitation over alleged examination irregularities in Jharkhand and alleged that the party was bringing people from other states to disrupt the protests. The Congress also accused the BJP of being linked to an alleged “exam mafia” operating across the country and claimed that the party was opposing a state CID investigation into paper leaks because it feared being exposed. Four Congress ministers — Radha Krishna Kishore, Shilpy Neha Tirkey, Dipika Pandey Singh and Irfan Ansari — made the allegations at a press conference in Ranchi.
They argued that a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which they described as a “tool of the Centre”, would not necessarily produce an impartial outcome in the state. Kishore alleged that people associated with the BJP had been brought from other states to interfere with a peaceful student protest held in Ranchi on August 10. He urged Chief Minister Hemant Soren to ensure that those allegedly involved were identified and that strong action was taken against them. The Congress leader claimed the BJP’s state leadership had acted at the direction of the Centre to disrupt the students’ agitation.
According to Kishore, the assembly gherao that took place recently in Ranchi was not part of the students’ original protest programme. He alleged that the development was an attempt to divert the agitation from its focus on alleged examination irregularities. The Congress has maintained that the students’ concerns should be addressed through an investigation into the alleged irregularities rather than through political confrontation. Congress leaders also defended the state government’s handling of the allegations surrounding examinations. Dipika Pandey Singh claimed that the Jharkhand government had initiated steps to investigate alleged examination “anomalies” before the students began their protests.
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She accused the BJP of seeking a CBI investigation despite the state government already taking action through its own investigative mechanisms. Singh also cited a claim that 152 paper leaks had occurred across India since 2015 during BJP rule. According to her, CBI investigations had been conducted in only 17 of those cases and had resulted in no convictions. The Congress used the claim to question the BJP’s demand for a central investigation into the Jharkhand allegations. The Congress further alleged that the BJP was resisting the CID probe into paper leaks in Jharkhand because such an investigation could expose individuals allegedly connected to the irregularities.
The allegations were made amid continuing student protests demanding accountability over examination-related concerns in the state. The BJP has not been quoted in the material provided responding to the Congress’s latest allegations. The claims regarding outsiders being brought to the protest, political interference and an alleged nationwide “exam mafia” remain political accusations and would require independent verification. The dispute has nevertheless intensified the political dimension of the students’ agitation, with the Congress calling for action against those it alleges disrupted the protests and defending the state-level investigation.
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