Tejashwi meets protesters, backs demand for BPSC exams cancellation

RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav has thrown his weight behind the demand for cancellation of competitive exams conducted recently, under controversial circumstances, by the Bihar Public Service Commission.

The former Deputy Chief Minister, who had been away touring the far-off Seemanchal region of the state to galvanize the party for assembly polls due in less than a year, turned up in the capital city late Saturday night.

The leader of the opposition drove to Gardani Bagh locality of the city where a number of candidates were staging a round-the-clock demonstration, braving chilly weather, seeking cancellation of the 70th Combined Competitive Exams (CCE) which were held on December 13.

Accompanied by close aide and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Yadav, the former Deputy CM chatted with the protesters for a while, before declaring "We are fully with the students on the issue. The Nitish Kumar government will have to order cancellation of the exams".

"For every step that you take, Tejashwi is ready to move four paces forward", he told the protesters.

His visit came a day after Yadav had held a video chat with protesters, many of whom urged the young leader to take time off to support their stir.

Notably, hundreds of aspirants at an exam centre in the city had boycotted the tests, alleging that question papers had been leaked.

The allegation has met with a strong denial from the BPSC, which claimed the disruptions were caused by "anti-social elements" who had turned up as part of a "conspiracy" to get the exams cancelled.

The Commission, however, has ordered re-examination for about 5,000 candidates who had been assigned the "Bapu Pariksha Parisar", which was at the centre of the controversy.

Nonetheless, there have been demands that since fairness of the tests was under cloud in view of paper leak allegations, exams for all the 912 centres, where close to five lakh candidates had appeared, be cancelled and held afresh.