Prashant Kishore, a political strategist-turned-politician and the founder of the Jan Suraj Party had a heated argument with Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) aspirants on Sunday night in Patna. The protesters accused him of being absent when the police took action against them.

"You take blankets from us and then show us attitude," the Jan Suraj Party founder reportedly told students, further escalating the situation. Police used water cannons and baton charges to break up protesters as they tried to march towards the chief minister’s residence in the evening. According to police officials, some protesters attempted to jump over barricades while marching from Gandhi Maidan to JP Golumber. According to the applicants, Kishore was "absent" when the police took action against them. 

A furious dispute with student leaders resulted from the chanting of "Prashant Kishore, go back" that greeted him upon his arrival. "You take blankets from us and then show us attitude," he said, further escalating the scene, according to India Today. "Where was Prashant Kishore during the lathi charge?" they were asked by the demonstrators, who were already angry about the police action. "The protesters gathered at Gandhi Maidan despite the administration's warning that any demonstration there would be considered unauthorised. The district police have registered an FIR against 21 known persons, including Prashant Kishore, his party president Manoj Bharti, city-based tutor Ramanshu Mishra and 600-700 unknown persons for organising a gathering of students at Gandhi Maidan even after the denial of permission by the authorities", Patna District Magistrate (DM) Chandrasekhar Singh told PTI.

The candidates who have been protesting for over a week are demanding the cancellation of the 70th Integrated Combined Competitive Examination (CCE), 2024, conducted by the BPSC, due to claims of a question paper leak. "The district administration has offered the protesting aspirants to give a list of the representatives (all of them examinees) so that we can facilitate their meeting with the BPSC authorities over the issue," the DM said. "They can apprise the commission’s officials of their grievances in the meeting. The district administration also assures the protesting aspirants that the commission would take appropriate decisions or a stand within a reasonable time," Singh said. The commission is an independent body and it is free to make decisions on its own, he said.

The BPSC decided to cancel the preliminary examination that was held at the Bapu Pariksha Parisar Centre due to disruptions caused by a group of unruly aspirants. The re-examination will be held on January 4 at a different centre in the city. Protesters, who have been sitting on a dharna at Gardani Bagh for several days, argue that the cancellation should apply to all centres, not just one. They believe that holding a re-examination for only one centre is unfair and goes against the principle of "level playing field." Prashant Kishore, who is trying to create a new political force in Bihar, has announced plans to test the waters in the 2025 by-polls. His party will contest four assembly seats in the central-south region, where the RJD-led grand alliance performed well in the Lok Sabha elections.