Clashes erupted between protesting students and police across Ranchi and several districts of Jharkhand on Friday, 22 August, as agitation over the JPSC and JSSC examinations intensified. Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) spokesperson Manoj Pandey on Saturday alleged that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders, coaching institute directors, and other elements were actively misleading students, while also arguing that Chief Minister Hemant Soren should not be held accountable for a court order that reversed the government's own cancellation notifications.

JMM's Defence of Chief Minister Soren

Pandey pushed back sharply against criticism directed at Chief Minister Soren following the Jharkhand High Court's interim stay on the government's cancellation orders. He questioned why an elected Adivasi chief minister was being targeted for a judicial decision outside his control.

"If the court gives a verdict or passes an order, why should Chief Minister Hemant Soren bear the brunt of the anger over it? Why are you making unparliamentary statements? In a democracy, an elected Chief Minister, chosen by the public, is an Adivasi. Is that his fault? Just because he is an Adivasi, will you abuse him? For a fault he did not commit, you are making such statements against him," Pandey said.

He further claimed that the number of genuine students at the protest site was comparatively low, alleging a larger presence of BJP functionaries. "That crowd — the number of students was very low. BJP leaders were present in larger numbers, along with some coaching institute directors and mafias. The task of misleading and misguiding the students is being operated directly from the BJP's state office," he alleged.

What the Government Said

Jharkhand Congress media in-charge Rakesh Sinha said the state government had engaged with agitating students across three rounds of meetings and had acted on their core demands — cancelling the 11th and 13th JPSC examinations and the JSSC-CGL examination.

"The government held three rounds of meetings with the students. Today, the students demanded that the 11th and 13th JPSC examinations and the JSSC-CGL examination be cancelled, so the government cancelled those examinations in response to their demand. However, the Hon'ble Court intervened in the government's order and imposed an interim stay. This is only an interim stay," Sinha said.

He urged students to remain patient, assuring them the government would file its response before the court. "The students must understand that the government has acted on their demands with commitment. The government will now file its response before the court, so the students also need to remain patient. We are continuously with the students. The students are ours, and the government belongs to the students," he added.

Violence Across Jharkhand

Tensions spilled over on Friday evening as protesters attempted to burn effigies of Chief Minister Hemant Soren and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, triggering clashes with police in Ranchi. Similar confrontations were reported in Hazaribag and Giridih, where JMM workers allegedly clashed with students attempting to burn effigies of Soren. Police resorted to a baton charge to disperse the crowds.

The Court Order That Triggered the Crisis

The Jharkhand High Court on Friday stayed notifications cancelling the appointments of Child Development Project Officers and candidates recruited through the JSSC-CGL examination. Protesters, organised under the banner of the JPSC-JSSC Reforms Manch, accused the Jharkhand government of "deceiving" and "betraying" job aspirants after the court's intervention nullified the cancellations they had been demanding.

This is the latest in a series of flashpoints over competitive examination integrity in Jharkhand, a state where government jobs are a critical pathway for tribal and rural youth. The government's next legal filing before the High Court will be closely watched as the determining step in whether the cancelled examinations can ultimately be scrapped.