The row erupted after last month’s preliminary civil service exam results, with some candidates alleging that answer sheets shared online showed successful applicants had answered fewer questions than expected, fuelling suspicions of manipulation.
Hundreds of thousands sit these highly competitive exams each year because government jobs offer prized security and stability.
The row has since widened into broader allegations over recruitment exams in the state. Chief Minister Hemant Soren said a Criminal Investigation Department (CID) probe was under way, including claims that the exam contract was awarded to an agency previously accused of irregularities. More than a dozen people have been arrested.
Jharkhand Public Service Commission chairman L Khiangte resigned on 22 July, before the protests began, and the commission later postponed the main examination.
The protests have created a political firestorm in Jharkhand, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is in the opposition.
The Congress, which governs the state with Soren’s Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) but sits in opposition nationally, has made exam paper leaks and the police crackdown on student protesters in Delhi a key issue against Modi’s government. The party has said it supports the protests in Jharkhand.
The BJP, meanwhile, has held protests outside the state assembly against the government and some of its lawmakers have met the protesters and announced their support.
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