Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday backed the agitating UPPSC aspirants in Prayagraj and said a non-transparent system in the name of normalisation is unacceptable.
The students have been protesting outside the office of the Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission (UPPSC) against its decision to conduct the preliminary examinations for Provincial Civil Services (PCS), Review Officer (RO) and Assistant Review Officer (ARO) on two separate days and are demanding that they be held on the same day.
On Thursday, the fourth day of the agitation, the UPPSC postponed the RO and ARO exams and announced that it will hold the PCS preliminary exam on the old pattern on a single day.
In a post in Hindi on X, Gandhi said the attitude of the Uttar Pradesh government and the UPPSC towards the aspirants in Prayagraj is "extremely insensitive and unfortunate".
"A non-transparent system in the name of normalisation is unacceptable and the students' demand for examination in one shift is absolutely justified. Why should the students pay the price for the incompetence of the BJP government which is busy destroying the education system? "Students who were studying have been forced to fight on the streets and are now being harassed by police. We will not accept this injustice against the youth who are staying away from home and studying to fulfil their dreams and those of their families," the former Congress chief said.
The Rae Bareli MP further said, "We fully support the demands of competitive students. Their democratic rights cannot be suppressed by dictatorship." He also shared a video of the students who have been protesting in Prayagraj for the last few days.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra criticised police action against the agitating students and shared a video on X in which the students are being removed from the protest site.
"Transparent and corruption-free examinations are the right of the youth. But under the BJP rule in UP, instead of listening to the students, they were lathi-charged. After the students decided that they would not be divided or leave, efforts are now being made to break and mislead them.
"Arresting the protesting students, threatening them, going to their homes and scaring their families, and sending suspicious people in plainclothes to remove the protesting students is extremely shameful," Priyanka Gandhi said in her post in Hindi.
She said the BJP government should clarify whether the state administration is not in a position to conduct even a single examination.
"Ever since the anti-youth BJP government has come to power in Uttar Pradesh, almost all examinations have become victims of corruption," she said.
"The students' demands for conducting UPPSC and RO/ARO examinations on the same day and for transparency in all examinations are justified. Instead of suppressing the voice of the youth, the BJP government should fix its corrupt administration and ensure transparency," the Congress leader said.
Accepting the demands of the protesters, the UPPSC also that it would form a committee on RO and ARO exams to ensure transparency and fairness.
The protesters said they will continue the agitation till a decision is taken on the RO and ARO exams.
Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Telegraph Online staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.
