Bihar Students Break Barricades, Cops Use Water Cannons As Protests Intensify

First, Delhi. Then, Jharkhand. Now, Bihar. Students protesting against the 70th Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) examination broke through barricades while marching towards Raj Bhavan from Gandhi Maidan in Patna on Tuesday, demanding cancellation of the examination over alleged irregularities.

The agitation has also centred on the proposed Teacher Recruitment Examination - Fourth Phase (TRE-4) process, with the students objecting to the proposal of conducting the TRE-4 exams in two phases across the state while demanding the release of the official TRE-4 advertisement.

Police used water cannons to disperse the agitating students as they tried to break through the barriers.

Scores of policemen have been deployed at major intersections across the proposed route to maintain order and regulate traffic.

#WATCH | Patna, Bihar: Police and students come face to face as they march towards Raj Bhavan from Gandhi Maidan, demanding cancellation of the 70th BPSC examination. pic.twitter.com/n0LNfCtRqr

— ANI (@ANI) August 25, 2026

"We have put up barricades, and senior officers have also arrived here. A large number of personnel have been deployed, and talks with the students are also underway. The talks are positive. I hope many students have understood that several of their demands have been accepted, so the scale of the protest should be much smaller. Despite that, if students come, we will stop them and will not allow them to move forward," Kamakhya Narayan Singh, Sub-Divisional Police Officer (Law and Order), said.

Speaking at the protest site, Congress leader Sushil Kumar said the protesters were also seeking changes in the Teacher Recruitment Examination (TRE) 4.0 and action on issues related to the BPSC, Bihar Staff Selection Commission (BSSC), and Sub-Inspector recruitment.

"We want to state clearly that a single-stage examination must be implemented for TRE 4.0 at all costs, and negative marking should be abolished. There are numerous other issues as well, regarding the BPSC, BSSC, Sub-Inspector recruitment. The government has offered no assurances on any of these points. We have urged the Chief Minister to hold a dialogue; he should invite our delegation for talks. We have been on a hunger strike for nine days, yet no one is willing to listen to us. Just imagine, had the government engaged in dialogue, this situation would not have arisen. We are heading towards the Chief Minister's residence; the Chief Minister should hold talks, and our delegation will go there for the discussion," Kumar told ANI.

Meanwhile, Bihar Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Yadav wrote a letter to Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary regarding the ongoing BPSC examination row, urging him not to ignore the protesters' demands and engage in constructive dialogue to find an immediate resolution of the matter.

Tejashwi Yadav's party Rashtriya Janata Dal has backed the agitation. Fourteen student and youth organisations, including the Revolutionary Youth Association, SSAI and Chhatra Yuva Sangharsh Morcha, have also extended support to the demonstration.

As the protests intensified, the Chief Minister said the state government will launch the monthly 'Vidyarthi Sahyog Shivir' (student support camps) to address the grievances of students.

"The Bihar government is launching Vidyarthi Sahyog Shivir starting today to ensure prompt resolution of students' grievances. These camps will be organised at educational institutions on the fourth Tuesday of every month," the Chief Minister wrote in a social media post.

The camps will provide students an opportunity to raise their grievances directly before the government officials concerned, he added.

Choudhary also announced that students will be able to register their complaints online and track their status through the portal and Helpline 1100.

Earlier, BPSC Examination Controller Rajesh Kumar, while answering queries on allegations of irregularities and paper leaks, declared, "Haathi chale bazaar, kutta bhaunke hazaar" (An elephant walks through the market while a thousand dogs bark).

Tejashwi Yadav claimed that the examination controller's comments against the protesters reflect the Chief Minister's own language.

"This official should be removed immediately and made to apologise. It is beyond comprehension. Immediate action is required to prevent such a precedent from taking root--where, in the future, people feel free to abuse the public, the youth, or students, or to fire AK-47s, file false cases, and orchestrate paper leaks. No one is being held accountable for this. The examination is being cancelled repeatedly, yet no responsibility is being fixed. This is a truly deplorable and low-level statement. Now that a person with a criminal image has become Chief Minister, the language used by officials is mirroring the Chief Minister's own language," said Yadav.