BJP politicising Jharkhand students’ stir, brought people from other States to disrupt protests: Congress

The Congress on Wednesday (August 12, 2026) hit out at the BJP, accusing it of “politicising” the students’ exam agitation in Jharkhand and “bringing people from other states” to disrupt the protests.

Accusing the saffron party of being involved in “exam mafia” across the country, the Congress said the BJP was “opposing” the CID probe into paper leaks in the state, “fearing that it would get exposed”.

A probe by the CBI, “a tool of the Centre”, will yield the “desired results” for them even in Jharkhand, asserted four Congress Ministers – Radha Krishna Kishore, Shilpy Neha Tirkey, Dipika Pandey Singh and Irfan Ansari – at a press conference Ranchi.

“The BJP brought people from other States to disrupt the students’ peaceful protest in Ranchi on August 10 over exam irregularities. We urge Chief Minister Hemant Soren to ensure that each such BJP worker is identified and strong action is taken against them,” Mr. Kishore said.

He alleged that the BJP’s state leadership acted at the Centre’s behest to disrupt the students’ stir, as the recent assembly gherao in Ranchi was “not on the protesters’ agenda”.

Claiming that the Jharkhand government initiated steps in exam “anomalies” much before the students started their protests, Mr. Singh said, “152 paper leaks took place in the country since 2015 under the BJP rule, but CBI probe was conducted in only 17 such cases with zero conviction”.

Mr. Singh said the CBI probes included the NEET-UG 2024, UGC-NET 2024, SSC-CGL 2017, JEE Main 2021 and the West Bengal SSC 2016, “but the outcome was nothing”.

Regarding the Haryana Judicial Services 2017 case, a conviction was secured not by the CBI, but by an SIT constituted by the state authorities, she claimed.

Ms. Tirkey asserted that no force was used on the protesting students in Jharkhand, whereas during the earlier BJP regime in the state, “the voice of the youth was crushed”.

She also said that it was Congress leader Rahul Gandhi who worked to awaken the youth across the country through the ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ campaign.

This awareness is now giving students the courage to step forward and participate in these movements, asserted Ms. Tirkey.

“Even at Jantar Mantar during the NEET protests, Rahul Gandhi was present to boost the morale and courage of the students,” she said.