Patna: The Rashtriya Janata Dal announced on Wednesday that National Working President Tejashwi Yadav will lead a march to Patna’s Raj Bhavan on August 19 to protest alleged police firing and lathi-charge on students, the reporting said.
Allegations and demands
According to the report, the procession will start from the party office on Veerchand Patel Path and proceed to the Governor’s residence. The demonstration was announced in Delhi after a meeting between RJD parliamentarians and party leadership, the report added.
Tejashwi targeted the state administration over its handling of student protests that arose from alleged examination irregularities. He sought clarification about an alleged AK-47 firing incident in Siwan, asking who had authorised the use of firearms against demonstrators and why senior officers had not been held accountable.
“He questioned who authorised the use of firearms against demonstrators and criticised the administration for suspending a lower-ranking constable while failing to fix accountability among senior leadership,” the report said.
The RJD leader criticised the state government for not having Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary or the Deputy Chief Ministers visit the injured students or inquire into their condition, and demanded an apology from the Chief Minister, the reporting said.
Action taken so far and party position
The party delegation, the report said, met with the Director General of Police, who assured them that action would be taken. Tejashwi, however, alleged that only a lower-ranked constable had been suspended and that the Superintendent of Police had not been removed, prompting calls for greater accountability at senior levels.
- March date: August 19
- Starting point: Veerchand Patel Path
- Destination: Patna Raj Bhavan (Governor’s residence)
- Main demand: clarification and accountability over alleged firing and police conduct
The RJD has described the situation in Bihar as tantamount to a “police raj”, the report said, and warned it would resist any measures it views as turning the state into a police state.
Political context and parliamentary response
Tejashwi told reporters the RJD had taken the matter to Parliament, and that the issue of the injured students had been raised by opposition leaders, including Lok Sabha Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, the report noted.
The march is likely to sharpen political confrontation in Bihar, where law-and-order incidents have become a theme of opposition criticism. By staging a high-visibility march to the Raj Bhavan, the RJD is pressing the state government for an answer on both the facts of the alleged firing and discipline within the police hierarchy, the reporting indicated.
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| Prior to Aug 12 | Student protests over alleged exam irregularities; reports of injuries and alleged firing in Siwan |
| Aug 12 | RJD meets in Delhi; march to Raj Bhavan on Aug 19 announced |
| Aug 19 | Planned march from Veerchand Patel Path to Governor's residence in Patna |
The reporting said the DGP had told the RJD delegation that action would be taken; the party, however, said that the response so far had been inadequate and disproportionate in focus at junior ranks.
As of the report's filing, the state government's reaction to the announced march or to the additional demands had not been detailed. The RJD has framed the protest as part of a broader campaign against what it terms excesses of police action, while seeking to keep the spotlight on student welfare and official accountability.
The march to Raj Bhavan will test both the government's capacity to manage public demonstrations and the opposition's ability to convert a law-and-order issue into a wider political narrative ahead of coming political engagements in the state, the report concluded.
