Disjointed Oppn gives political space to PK, relief to government

The way the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) handled a potentially big issue like the alleged problems in combined exam of the Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) has clearly demonstrated how the government manoeuvred an Opposition disjointed over poll strategist Prashant Kishor to its advantage and snatched from them a rife political narrative in the poll-bound state.

- Arun Kumar

PATNA:

Experts feel that despite the BPSC landing the government in a soup due to inept handling from the outset, starting with delayed start of the exam at Patna's Bapu centre, sealed box having lesser number of question papers and allegations of several questions similar to those from the test series of a coaching institution, the Opposition could not speak in one voice and got engaged in one-upmanship to kill the very issue that had brought thousands of students on the streets spontaneously.

"The students got beaten up. They sat on dharna. But due to unbridled politicisation of the students' demands, the entire agitation derailed. It is strange that despite all the Opposition parties racing against one another to take the lead, none could make an impact in the eyes of the government for any decision. The government stuck to its stand and ultimately got away with it due to poor show of the Opposition parties," said Ansari, a BPSC aspirant.