Ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, on Saturday, February 25, the Chief Minister of Bihar Nitish Kumar, and Deputy CM Tejashwi Prasad Yadav will hold a joint rally of the ‘Mahagathbandhan’ in Purnia district. Due to Mahagathbandhan’s ‘Ekjutata Rally’ the Purnea University exam has been postponed. Following the Vice Chancellor’s direction, the Controller of Exams issued the order.
It is for the first time that an exam has been postponed for a political rally. Today, Purnea University students of BA second year were to write their exam, however, now the exam will be held on March 15 as the Bihar government has given priority to the rally instead of the examination.
The notice was issued on Thursday, February 23. This states information about the change in date for the exam. The students enrolled in the colleges affiliated with the university in the neighbouring areas have also been affected by the cancellation of the examination scheduled for Saturday. The reason behind the postponement was stated as the Grand Alliance rally in the notice.
The Bihar government has come under fire from the BJP for cancelling the exam. It has been questioned whether the rally or the exam should have been the priority.
Taking to Twitter, Bihar BJP leader Nikhil Anand slammed the JDU-RJD coalition government for prioritizing their political rally over university exams and accused them of pressuring the Purnea University administration to postpone the exams.
“The Mahagathbandhan is putting pressure on the university administration and educational institutions to make its rally in Purnia successful and get the examinations postponed. In order to make the rally of the coalition parties part of the Bihar government successful, even educational institutions have been engaged in welcoming and gathering crowds,” a tweet by Anand in Hindi read.
“महागठबंधन पूर्णिया की अपनी रैली को सफल बनाने के लिए विश्वविद्यालय प्रशासन एवं शिक्षण संस्थानों पर दबाव डालकर परीक्षाएं तक स्थगित करवा रही है।
— Nikhil Anand (@NikhilAnandBJP) February 24, 2023
बिहार सरकार में शामिल गठबंधन दलों की रैली को सफल बनाने के लिए शिक्षण संस्थानों तक को स्वागत में और भीड़ जुटाने में लगा दिया है। #Bihar pic.twitter.com/bXHE1YYqEK
The ‘Ekjutata rally’ will be the seven-party coalition’s first significant show of political force since its establishment in August of last year. In addition to the chief minister and his deputy, Grand Alliance leaders announced that Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad will be speaking virtually at the rally. Besides, former CM Jeetanram Manjhi, Congress state president Akhilesh Prasad Singh and other prominent leaders will be attending the rally.
