Pioneer News Service
Ranchi
The Jharkhand bandh called by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday to protest the alleged lathi-charge and police action against students during the JPSC-JSSC agitation evoked a significant response in Ranchi and several other districts. The AJSU Party extended its support to the shutdown.
BJP workers took to the streets from 6 am, with the bandh affecting commercial establishments and traffic in several parts of Ranchi, including Dhurwa, Doranda, Hinoo, Kishoreganj, Ratu Road, Albert Ekka Chowk and Koker. Traffic remained considerably thinner than usual. Protesters also burnt tyres at several locations, which were later removed by the administration.
BJP state president Aditya Sahu accused the Hemant Soren government of corruption and misgovernance and alleged that pressure was being exerted on students sitting on hunger strike to withdraw their agitation.
“Students want to know why jobs are being sold under the present government. Who has given the government the right to sell Jharkhand’s jobs?” Sahu said. He also questioned the government over the deaths of 19 youths during the excise constable recruitment process.
Sahu alleged that students who had voted the government to power were now facing repeated police action. He also questioned Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his response to the issue.
The bandh also affected Hazaribagh, Palamu, Chatra, Khunti and Jamtara, while bandh supporters blocked NH-32 in Dhanbad for several hours.
Meanwhile, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) held a planned Assembly march, but the administration stopped the protesters at the Old Assembly grounds. Around 500 students had gathered by noon and were detained and shifted to a temporary camp jail.
ABVP leader Dr Atal Pandey alleged that buses carrying students from outside Ranchi were stopped en route, preventing them from reaching the capital. Organisation secretary Ujjwal Tiwari criticised the government’s handling of the protest and said the ABVP would continue its agitation until the students’ demands were addressed.
