Babulal Marandi Urged Jharkhand Government To Remove Barricades Around CM’s Residence Amid Students Protest

The Leader of Opposition in the Jharkhand Assembly Babulal Marandi had urged the state government to remove the barricades laid down in Kanke Road around the residence of Jharkhand Chief minister’s residence on Thursday. The barricades were put up in the wake of tightening the security measures for Chief Minister Hemant Soren’s residence in Ranchi.

The barricading has been arranged ahead of Independence Day and as part of the ongoing unrest in the state of Jharkhand over alleged irregularities in the recruitment examinations, which is likely to see a protest march by students.

Marandi claimed the security measures were greatly inconveniencing commuters and ruining the daily lives of the people in the State capital. School children and vehicles that provide essential services were also getting affected by the traffic congestion, he said.

The BJP chief in a social media post had asked about the need of excessive security measures

while students were planning a peaceful protest. “In the name of securing the chief minister’s residence, main roads and the extremely busy Kanke Road have been blocked, holding the entire capital’s public life hostage,” Marandi alleged in a social media post.

Meanwhile, student agitation regarding the alleged irregularities in recruitment examinations such as JSSC-CGL and JPSC examinations has continued for 20th day since Thursday.

Protesters among the students have kept up the agitation, and continue to not be prepared to withdraw the protest until their demands are met.

There has been an escalation in the movement in recent days after police repressing protesters. Students have also given a silent march in Ranchi, after which they had seen water cannons and lathi-charge during a previous protest.

Marandi urged the government to reach out to protesting students rather than using security measures.

He called on the administration to lift the barricades, re-open the road for normal traffic flow, and settle the issue through dialogues.

The BJP chief also asked the state government why it was scared of “peaceful” students fighting for what it termed “legitimate demands”.