Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi during the AICC Minority Department District Heads in New Delhi (Source: PTI)
New Delhi: “The use of force against students protesting in Jharkhand is wrong,” tweeted senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday, August 10, amid alleged police action against protestors demonstrating over alleged irregularities in recruitment examinations conducted by the Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) and the Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission (JSSC).
The comment is significant given that his party is a coalition partner in the state government, and the BJP has questioned Gandhi’s silence over the developments in Jharkhand.
In a post written in Hindi on X, Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, said, “Students have a right to peaceful protest, and only dialogue can yield solutions. The Jharkhand government must continue to hear these students out and resolve their issues immediately.”
The ABVP had also questioned the Congress’s stance, saying, “The silence of the Congress, which speaks of students’ rights and democratic protests elsewhere but remains a partner in the ruling dispensation in Jharkhand, also exposes its double standards.”
In Delhi, BJP MP Tejasvi Surya said, “I want to ask Rahul Gandhi—is your demand for justice one-sided? Are the students of Jharkhand not students who deserve justice? Do their demands not deserve justice? Rahul Gandhi should stop these double standards and this hypocrisy.”
BJP MP Jagdambika Pal also questioned Gandhi’s silence over the Jharkhand students’ protest.
“If Rahul Gandhi is so concerned about students and youngsters, then it has been 17 days that students have been sitting on a hunger strike in Ranchi over irregularities in the JPSC examination, but he has not intervened,” he said.
Many protestors alleged they were injured in the police action, which took place when they reached the final barricade near Jagannathpur Temple on the road to the Jharkhand Assembly, which is in session.
Police in Ranchi used water cannons, lobbed tear gas shells, and lathi-charged job aspirants as they breached barricades and attempted to reach the state Assembly.
ABVP National General Secretary Virendra Singh Solanki said, “Instead of addressing genuine concerns, the government has chosen the path of lathi-charge, water cannons and arrests against students exercising their democratic rights. This is highly condemnable and exposes the government’s anti-student attitude,” he said.
ABVP has planned a peaceful gherao at the state Assembly on Tuesday, August 11.
In a statement, the student wing of RSS said thousands of students are expected to march peacefully from the Old Assembly Tinkonia Ground to the Legislative Assembly and raise their demands before the government.
The ABVP said it strongly condemns the lathi-charge, use of water cannons and arrests of students protesting against irregularities in JPSC and JSSC examinations in Jharkhand.
Students marching peacefully towards the Assembly with legitimate demands concerning their future were met with police force instead of dialogue and resolution, it said.
Reports of action against and arrests of media personnel during the protest are equally concerning, the ABVP said, adding that the use of force against students who are raising serious questions about the credibility of competitive examinations exposes the “anti-student approach” of the Jharkhand government.
ABVP asserted that it has consistently stood with students demanding transparency and accountability in JPSC and JSSC examinations.
Prakash Tuti, State Secretary, ABVP Jharkhand, said the lathi-charge and use of water cannons against students who were peacefully marching towards the Legislative Assembly was “shameful and unacceptable”.
With agency inputs
This post was last modified on August 10, 2026 7:20 pm