Patna, Aug 19 : RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav on Wednesday braved water cannons before being detained in Patna, where he was leading thousands of supporters during a march to the Lok Bhavan over the recent police action on students who demonstrated against the NEET paper leak. Yadav, also the Leader of Opposition in the Bihar assembly, was bundled into a police van, along with key aides like Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Yadav, and the vehicle took them to an undisclosed location. SSP Kartikeya K Sharma confirmed that Tejashwi Yadav was detained. Police officers, however, were tight-lipped on the whereabouts of the leaders, whose detention left the supporters outraged, with many of them trying to clamber atop the vehicle to prevent it from moving.

The RJD's march is aimed at demanding stern action against police personnel in various districts of the state, especially Siwan, where a constable had allegedly used an AK 47 rifle during the student protests. The constable was suspended days after the July 25 incident and SP Pooran Kumar Jha was transferred on August 18. "Why just a transfer? Both the DM and the SP should have been suspended," one of the RJD supporters screamed when approached by reporters before the march took off from the JP Golambar, a roundabout named after legendary socialist leader Jay Prakash Narayan.

Tejashwi Yadav, who had a day ago voiced fears of "excessive use of force" against his Lok Bhavan march, managed to breach the barricades put up at the Dak Bungalow crossing, only to be blocked by a heavy contingent of police at the Income Tax roundabout, situated close to the Patna High Court premises. The former deputy CM and his supporters stood waving the tricolour, undeterred by water cannons that were used by the police. Some of them also carried dummies of the AK-47 rifle.

"These tactics are not going to dampen our spirits. We will make the government see reason and listen to the voice of the students. "The government is pushing the future of students into darkness. Exam papers are getting leaked frequently," he alleged, while being put inside a police van. Meanwhile, SDM (Patna Sadar) Kritika urged the agitators to show respect to the national flag during the march.  "It is being observed here that several people are holding the national flag upside down. Under the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971, disrespecting the tricolour is unconstitutional and punishable," she said.

RJD MLA Bhai Virendra said the rallyists are scheduled to submit a memorandum to the governor at the Lok Bhavan. According to police sources, a delegation of the protesters will be allowed to meet the Bihar governor. "It is important to understand the emotions of Gen Z. The government used AK-47 rifles against the protesting students in Bihar, and pellet guns and nail-embedded batons against them in Delhi, just because they demanded an honest and transparent examination system. "We are staging this march to bring all these aspects to the notice of the Bihar governor," RJD MP Manoj Jha told PTI Videos.

Reacting to the party's march, BJP state president Sanjay Saraogi claimed that it was a rally to "save the career" of Tejashwi Yadav. "He failed as a student, cricketer and politician. Now, he is trying to play politics around an issue that the Bihar government has already resolved," Saraogi asserted. He said the Bihar government had already made provisions for a hefty fine of Rs 1 crore and provided for up to eight years of imprisonment in cases of paper leak incidents through a law passed in the assembly.

"Tejashwi Yadav was on a foreign trip when the bill was passed. If he were present in the House, he could have given some healthy suggestions. The people of Bihar are watching everything," Saraogi said. Echoing similar views, Mritunjay Tiwari, who recently jumped ship from the RJD to the BJP, described the march as a "bid to save the RJD and the Leader of Opposition post for Tejashwi Yadav". "The Samrat Choudhary-led government in Bihar is working for students' welfare in a dedicated manner. It has resolved all their grievances, and they are happy now," Tiwari said.

/ Agencies