• Source:JND
HighLights
  1. RJD chief and Bihar LoP Tejashwi Yadav was detained during his party's Lok Bhavan march.
  2. Police used water cannons to disperse the protesters in Patna.
  3. RJD has been protesting against irregularities in exams and the police action against students during the NEET protests.

RJD Lok Bhavan March: The Patna Police on Wednesday detained RJD leaders Tejashwi Yadav and Misa Bharti while they were taking out a march towards Lok Bhavan (Governor's Office) to protest against the recent police action during the NEET paper leak protests in Bihar.

Hundreds of RJD workers joined Tejashwi Yadav during the march, raising slogans against the Samrat Choudhary-led BJP-JDU government in Bihar. The police resorted to water cannons on the protesting RJD leaders, including Yadav, who tried to breach barricades set up along the march route.

"The government is pushing the future of students into darkness. Exam papers are getting leaked frequently," he alleged, while being put inside a police van. 

During the protest, some demonstrators climbed onto a bus in which Tejashwi Yadav and other protesters were being taken by the police. Videos from the protest site also showed RJD workers posing as police personnel and pointing cutouts of AK-47 rifles at students.

On RJD's protest, IG Patna Jitendra Rana said, "The march started from Gandhi Maidan has concluded. A delegation is going to Lok Bhawan. Some of the people who were taken into custody have already left for Lok Bhavan. The police have not used force. Water cannon was used on the crowd."

Tejashwi Yadav Slams Govt

Upon his detention, Tejashwi claimed that he, along with the other senior leaders, were stopped by the police despite marching towards the Lok Bhavan peacefully. "The government is afraid. We were carrying out a peaceful march with the Tricolour on the issue of the students," Yadav was quoted as saying by the news agency ANI.

Misa Bharti Questions Use Of Force

Along with Tejashwi, other senior leaders of the party, including Misa Bharti and Sanjay Yadav, also got detained during the demonstration. Bharti slammed the government over the use of AK-47 against the protesters, further demanding a solid action.

"We have heard that the Bihar government in the Supreme Court has admitted that the AK-47 was used (against students). The Bihar govt should have been asked by the court who permitted the use of AK-47 in a protest. If the DM gave permission, he should be suspended," Bharti was quoted as saying by ANI.

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"This Bihar govt is killing the future of students of Bihar," the RJD MP added. A scuffle also broke out between the RJD members and the officials as the protesters tried to breach the barricades to reach the Raj Bhavan. Amid the ongoing clash, one of the protesters collapsed during the foot march.

Earlier, former Chief Minister of Bihar and RJD veteran Lalu Yadav had also urged the party workers and students to participate in the march. "All student-youth power is tormented by paper leaks, the dilapidated education system, biased recruitment processes, and unemployment," Yadav said in his post on X.

"Instead of listening to their democratic demands, the arrogant government, built on a system of plunder, rains bullets from AK-47s—this is unjust. Unite in Patna on August 19 against this dictatorship," he added.


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