RANCHI: Jharkhand BJP on Tuesday launched a statewide agitation in support of protesting students after the state government failed to respond to its 48-hour ultimatum seeking withdrawal of cases against students and a CBI probe into recruitment examinations. The party has scheduled demonstrations and plans to lay siege to the offices of Deputy Commissioners (DCs) and Superintendents of Police (SPs) across all 24 districts from September 8 to 11.
BJP workers took to the streets and raised slogans against the government in Ranchi, Dumka, Hazaribagh, Jamshedpur and Garhwa on Monday.
Earlier, the BJP had issued the ultimatum to the JMM-led Hemant Soren government over cases filed against students protesting alleged irregularities in JPSC and JSSC examinations. State BJP president Aditya Sahu said that the party had earlier approached the Chief Secretary with a memorandum and issued the 48-hour ultimatum, but its demands were ignored.
Sahu said that the BJP would continue its agitation in the interest of students.
“BJP has stood with students from the very beginning and will continue to do so. If students face injustice or oppression, the party will persist in agitating against it,” said Sahu.
In Ranchi, BJP workers marched from Shaheed Chowk to the District Collectorate, shouting slogans against Chief Minister Hemant Soren throughout the route.
Several leaders including State President Aditya Sahu, Hatia MLA Naveen Jaiswal, Ranchi MLA CP Singh, former MP Deepak Prakash, and Ranchi Mayor Roshni Khalkho were present during the protest.
BJP seeks withdrawal of FIRs registered against more than 300 students during the student protests. Its second demand is for a CBI inquiry rather than a CID probe into the paper leak associated with the JSSC-CGL examination.
According to Ranchi MLA CP Singh, this protest is just the beginning; if the cases registered against the students are not withdrawn, an even larger agitation will be launched. The BJP has long been demanding a CBI inquiry into the JSSC-CGL matter, he said.
The party alleged that attempts are being made to shield certain key figures within the government through the CID investigation. It maintained that a CBI probe would bring the full truth to light and make it possible to bring the guilty to justice.
BJP leaders also alleged that the government has failed to take serious action regarding the students' demands, even after the protests took place.
Senior party leaders spearheaded the agitation in districts other than Ranchi as well. Leader of the Opposition Babulal Marandi was present in Dumka, former Chief Minister Raghubar Das in Hazaribagh, former Chief Minister Madhu Koda in Jamshedpur, and Union Minister of State for Defence Sanjay Seth in Garhwa.
In these districts too, the leaders reiterated their demands for a CBI inquiry into the examination irregularities and the withdrawal of cases registered against students.