The Congress on Monday found itself in a dilemma over Jharkhand students' protest on irregularities in recruitment examinations across the state, as the party has largely remained silent over the agitation, even as it has targeted the Centre repeatedly for weeks over NEET (UG) examination.
None of the top Congress leaders, including Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, have issued a statement over the agitation or called for accountability in the irregularities, prompting the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to hit out at the grand old party.
The BJP, which remains in power at the Centre, has linked the Congress' silence with the party's alliance to the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM). Union Minister Giriraj Singh has called Congress an enemy of democracy and selective, asking why it is silent over paper leak cases in Jharkhand, Punjab and Karnataka.
"On Jharkhand, Punjab and Karnataka, they (Congress) are silent. Rahul goes and stirs 'hungama' in Prayagraj. The people of the nation are seeing all this... The people have seen who Amit Shah is. There is no need for a certificate from Rahul Gandhi," he told news agency ANI.
BJP's national general secretary Tarun Chugh also hit out at the opposition and alleged that Gandhi has no time to listen to the students in Jharkhand because Congress is part of the ruling alliance there. He said the state government should accept the demands of the students.
"Those who were trying till the end to politically hijack the students' movement in Delhi, who were restless, sometimes sitting in buses and sometimes taking out foot marches, where are those so-called leaders now?" he said. "Even Rahul Gandhi ji does not have time to listen to them now because the government is yours in Jharkhand. This is a double standard. There was restlessness in Delhi, but there is not even a word to say there."
The Congress has not responded to the allegations. Meanwhile, the ruling JMM has said that 98 per cent of the students' demands have been accepted, which has been acknowledged by the protesters. JMM MP Mahua Maji also said the CID is investigating the case and the state government has directed that the matter be resolved within 90 days through a fast-track court process.
"It is no longer within the government's power to cancel that exam without a directive from the court," she told ANI. "They have already secured concessions regarding the JPSC, even though the first and second JPSC examinations conducted during the BJP's tenure were marred by massive irregularities, including paper leaks and widespread malpractice."
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