The Jan Suraaj Party (JSP) on Wednesday claimed that the health of its founder Prashant Kishor, who is on fast unto death at the ICU of a hospital, has “alarmingly deteriorated”. After submitting a memorandum to Chief Secretary Amrit Lal Meena, JSP president Manoj Bharti said doctors are of the view that if Kishor does not start taking normal food, the consequences could be serious. “Our memorandum enlisted the five demands for which Kishor went on a fast unto death. We also said that Kishor would consider continuing the fast unto death only if the issue was addressed squarely and a meeting is fixed, at the earliest, of a delegation of students with the chief minister,” he said. Kishor started the fast on January 2 in solidarity with the civil services aspirants who have been protesting, seeking the cancellation of an exam conducted by the Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) on December 13 over allegations of paper leak. He was admitted to the hospital on Tuesday with complaints of dehydration. Among the demands made by the JSP are a highlevel inquiry into the allegations of malpractices in the 70th Combined Competitive Exams and a white paper on irregularities like question paper leaks that have taken place in the last 10 years.
The party also sought assistance for unemployed people in the age group of 1835 and a domicile policy ensuring twothirds representation of the state’s youth in government jobs.
Bharti said a petition will “very soon” be filed in the Patna High Court, seeking cancellation of the exam. “We are preparing all required documents for approaching the HC over the issue. This exercise will be completed very soon and after that, we will approach the HC,” he said. Asked about the police registering a third FIR against Kishor and his supporters for allegedly creating a ruckus in the Patna civil court on Monday, Bharti said, “Charges leveled by the police in its third FIR are baseless and far from the reality. We will take appropriate steps in this regard.”
On Monday, Kishor was arrested from the Gandhi Maidan in Patna where he was holding the fast and later released on bail.
Even as the government refuted the allegation of question paper leak, a retest was ordered for more than 12,000 candidates who had appeared in the exam at a center in Patna.