Pioneer News Service
RANCHI
Jharkhand BJP on Monday strongly objected to the continued detention of several senior party leaders, including state president Aditya Sahu, Leader of Opposition Babulal Marandi, former chief minister Madhu Koda and former state BJP president Deepak Prakash, nearly 10 hours after they were taken into custody during a protest outside Chief Minister Hemant Soren’s residence over alleged irregularities in JPSC and JSSC examinations.
BJP state general secretary Amar Kumar Bauri accused the state government of adopting an “authoritarian” approach by detaining party leaders without justification.
“This is nothing but dictatorship. If the BJP leaders have committed any offence, the government should send them to jail. But if they have committed no offence, they should be released immediately,” Bauri said.
He described the continued detention as a “black day for democracy”, claiming that it was unprecedented for all opposition MLAs to be detained while the state Assembly was in session.
Bauri questioned the Assembly Speaker’s alleged failure to take cognisance of the situation. He said the functioning of the legislature required the participation of both treasury and opposition benches and questioned how the Assembly could effectively conduct its proceedings when opposition legislators were being kept in detention.
“On the one hand, the Assembly session is underway, while on the other, all opposition MLAs have been detained. Why has the Speaker not taken cognisance of this? Does the Assembly function only with members of the ruling party?” he asked.
He further alleged that a BJP Rajya Sabha MP was also prevented from attending the proceedings of the House despite being scheduled to participate in the parliamentary proceedings.
Bauri said the BJP leaders had been detained while raising issues concerning students and alleged irregularities in recruitment examinations conducted by the Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) and Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission (JSSC).
“Is detaining those who raise their voice on issues concerning the public what the Hemant Soren government calls democracy?” he asked, accusing the state government of crossing “all limits” in its alleged use of repressive measures.
The BJP has been demanding reforms and greater transparency in the recruitment examination process and has backed the ongoing students’ agitation over alleged irregularities in JPSC and JSSC examinations.
