Prashant Kishor, who heads the Jan Suraaj Party, was detained on Monday, 6 January 2025. Prashant had launched an indefinite hunger strike from Gandhi Maidan, Patna. Prashant wanted a call for canceling the 70th BPSC Combined (Preliminary) Competitive Examination or CCE on charges of leakage. 

Kishor began his hunger strike on January 2, putting forward five key demands addressing the issue.

What are Kishor's five demands?

Kishor's demands included a high-level investigation into the irregularities and a re-examination of the controversial BPSC exam. He also called for unemployment allowances for jobless youth aged 18 to 35, as promised under the 7 Nischay scheme in 2015. 

Additionally, Kishor sought a comprehensive report on paper leaks and irregularities in competitive exams over the past decade, along with punitive actions against those responsible for the police lathi charge on students in Patna on December 29. His final demand was the implementation of a domicile policy to reserve two-thirds of government jobs for Bihar's youth.

What led to Kishor's arrest?

Police arrested Kishor after they issued a warning to him to vacate the prohibited area in Gandhi Maidan. While evicting Kishor, a police officer allegedly slapped him. However, Kishor continued to stick to his decision, saying he would not end his strike unless Chief Minister Nitish Kumar personally met the students and addressed their demands.

BPSC re-examination

BPSC again held a re-exam on 22 centers located in Patna on January 4 amid the ongoing protests. This re-exam was taken only for candidates who have been assigned to Bapu Exam Centre (BEC), where initial irregularities were noticed during the prelims held on December 13. 

A total of 12,012 candidates were scheduled to appear at BEC, but only 5,200 candidates turned up. For the re-exam, 5,943 candidates were eligible, and only 4,712 attended.