’Lathi-tantra’ detrimental to democracy: Prashant Kishore reacts to BPSC row, Tejashwi Yadav labels govt as ‘corrupt’

Bihar Public Service Commission aspirants first staged a protest outside the commission's office in Patna on December 13, demanding cancellation of the exam. Over the BPSC row, former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav charged at CM Nitish Kumar and suggested that the government was only of corrupt people. Criticising the Bihar government, Jan Suraj chief Prashant Kishore on Friday claimed that democracy in the state has been replaced by “lathi-tantra.” Expressing solidarity with the protesting students, Prashant Kishore said, "Democracy has transformed into 'lathi-tantra' over the last 1-2 years. We will try to handle the crowd peacefully but if it commits violence, strict action will be taken.” Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Yadav also condemned the police action and said that resorting to a lathi-charge against students was unjust. Defending their action and denying any injuries to the protesting aspirants, police authorities claimed that only "mild force" was used.