Despite the Jharkhand government and students holding talks over alleged irregularities in recruitment examinations across the state, the stalemate has continued and agitators alleging that the former made an attempt to remove Jharkhand Loktantrik Krantikari Morcha (JLKM) leader Devendra Nath Mahato from the protest site in Ranchi, a move similar to the removal of activist Sonam Wangchuk from Jantar Mantar in Delhi.
The agitators have alleged that the state government is trying to suppress the protest and create divisions among the students, even as they continue to hold demonstration peaceful while following the Constitution.
"Last night, efforts were also made to take Devendra Nath Mahato. Given the way the administration is behaving, it seems somewhere they want to lift Devendra Nath Mahato, or as I feel, they want to lift him and make it so that once he wakes up, they take him to the hospital just like they did with Sonu Wangchuk, and then suppress this movement," Prem Nayak, a protester, told news agency ANI on Sunday.
"They know that as long as Devendra Nath remains steadfast here, the movement will intensify and the crowd will keep growing. You can see the crowd grew yesterday; it will grow today, and it will keep growing, he added.
Fresh round of talks today
The students and the government have held five rounds of talks, but the deadlock has continued. The two sides will hold talks again on Sunday. According to the state government, Chief Minister Hemant Soren has been apprised of the students' demands and issues, and appropriate steps are being taken.
And with talks failing to end the deadlock, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has attacked the Hemant Soren government, demanding the resignation of the chief minister. Earlier in the day, Union Minister Sanjay Seth, along with BJP's state unit chief Aditya Sahu, met the protesters at the Jaipal Singh Munda Stadium in Ranchi and accused the opposition of double standard.
"If there were any ethics in the state government, the Chief Minister should have come here on the very first day and accepted the students' demand for a CBI investigation... What is the objection to having a CBI investigation?... I challenge Rahul Gandhi that if he has even a shred of ethics, he should come to Ranchi. But he won't do it because of his double standards," he told ANI.
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