AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday, 28 July 2026, sharply condemned the Bharatiya Janata Party over an alleged incident in which students in Bihar were reportedly fired upon with AK-47 rifles, demanding that the ruling party stop targeting young protesters and invoking the legacy of socialist icon Jayaprakash Narayan to warn the government of popular backlash.

Context

Kejriwal's post, written in Hindi, opened with a pointed question: 'Aakhir BJP ko kya ho gaya hai?' ('What has happened to the BJP?'). He alleged that students in Bihar were fired upon with AK-47s and asked rhetorically, 'Are these students terrorists?' The post was addressed directly at what he called 'Modi-Samrat' — a pointed reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi — urging him not to 'pick a fight with students.'

The specific incident Kejriwal referenced — an alleged AK-47 firing on students in Bihar in July 2026 — has not been independently confirmed. Bihar Police and the state government had not issued a public response at the time of the post.

Policy Backdrop

Kejriwal anchored his criticism in a historically resonant slogan from the 1974 Bihar student movement led by Loknayak Jayaprakash Narayan: 'Singhasan khali karo ki janta aati hai' — 'Vacate the throne, for the people are coming.' That movement, which began as a campus-led agitation against corruption in Bihar, eventually snowballed into a nationwide campaign that preceded the imposition of the Emergency in 1975.

By invoking JP's legacy, Kejriwal drew a direct parallel between the Congress government's response to student unrest in the 1970s and what he characterised as the current BJP administration's use of force. Bihar has been governed by a BJP-JD(U) alliance at the state level in recent years, while the BJP leads the central government under Prime Minister Modi.

Stakeholders and Impact

The post is likely to resonate with Bihar's large student population and opposition parties, particularly ahead of any electoral cycle in the state. Opposition figures — including leaders from the RJD and the broader INDIA alliance — have routinely used the JP movement as a rhetorical touchstone whenever student protests intersect with state police action.

Kejriwal's intervention signals that AAP intends to position itself as a national voice on student rights, extending its political footprint beyond its base in Delhi and Punjab. The post is likely to prompt follow-up statements from other opposition leaders and could surface as a subject of parliamentary questions in the coming sessions.

What's Next

All eyes are now on the Bihar state government and Bihar Police for an official account of the alleged firing incident. A formal response — or the absence of one — will shape how the episode is framed in national political discourse.

If corroborated, the incident could trigger demands for a judicial inquiry and intensify opposition pressure on the ruling alliance in both Patna and New Delhi. Kejriwal's invocation of the JP movement is a deliberate signal: in Bihar's political memory, student agitations have historically carried the power to reshape governments.