Karnataka Home Minister Priyank Kharge said on Monday that those demanding his resignation should first sit on a hunger strike for 25 days and then face a lathi charge.
Actually, at an exam center in Vijayapura, during the police constable recruitment examination, the serial numbers on the OMR sheets were not matching with the question papers. After this, several students came out of the examination center and started demanding a re-examination. Kharge made this statement while talking to the media about this matter.
The BJP has accused the Congress leader of mocking students who were protesting against irregularities in the police constable recruitment examination.
Later, clarifying his statement, Kharge said that his comment was not for the students, but for the BJP’s political protests.
Government dismissed the allegations
The Karnataka Examination Authority (KEA) has dismissed these allegations. The authority clarified that it is not necessary for the OMR sheet and question paper numbers to match. According to KEA, students were confused due to misinformation spread on social media. Only filling the question paper series and version code on the OMR sheet is mandatory. This examination was conducted to fill 1,453 Civil Police Constable posts across the state.
BJP and JDS demand resignation
Leader of Opposition R Ashok has condemned Kharge’s statement and demanded his resignation. BJP leaders allege that the minister is advising students to face police lathis (batons).
BJP MP Sudhanshu Trivedi accused Congress of hypocrisy. He said that the party which claims to support students on issues like NEET is now defending a minister who made insensitive comments on the recruitment exam protest. BJP has strongly condemned Kharge’s statement.
