Patna: The RJD on Tuesday changed the starting point of its protest march against paper leaks, the examination system, recruitment issues and unemployment, with the march now set to begin from JP roundabout instead of the party’s state office.The march, already announced for Wednesday, will begin at 10am and proceed to Lok Bhavan. The decision to change the starting point was taken at a meeting chaired by leader of opposition in assembly Tejashwi Prasad Yadav on Tuesday evening.RJD spokesperson Shakti Singh Yadav said the march would pass through Dak Bungalow roundabout, Planetarium and IT roundabout before reaching Lok Bhavan. He said all party MPs, legislators, former representatives and workers would participate in the march and that it would be held in a “purely peaceful manner”.The change in the programme came hours after RJD chief Lalu Prasad appealed to youths and students to participate in the march in large numbers. In a post on X, Lalu accused the govt of ignoring the “democratic demands” of students and youths and raised issues of paper leaks, the education system, recruitment processes and unemployment.Later, Tejashwi through a news conference on Tuesday expressed apprehension about “excessive use of force” by the administration during the march. He also claimed that police had picked up several student representatives in Patna and might prevent youths from boarding trains to join the protest.Tejashwi in a post on X also questioned the circumstances in which an AK-47 allegedly came into the possession of a soldier during a recent student protest in Siwan. He asked who authorised the weapon’s issuance, which unit the soldier belonged to and whether an AK-47 had previously been used during a student protest. He also questioned chief minister Samrat Choudhary’s silence on the issue.The RJD has been mobilising students and youths over what Tejashwi has described as the “complete collapse of the examination system” and recurring paper leaks in Bihar.
