Patna:

Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor, who was on Monday arrested for an “illegal” fast unto death and then released on “unconditional” bail, has been taken to a hospital in Patna after his health deteriorated last night.

Mr Kishor was arrested from Patna’s Gandhi Maidan early Monday morning, in pursuance of a case against him last week for holding ‘Aamaran anshan’ (fast unto death) at Gandhi Maidan, in violation of a Patna High Court order that forbids any such demonstration at a place other than Gardani Bagh locality in the city.

Mr Kishor, who was an election strategist before he plunged into politics full-time, was on an indefinite fast since January 2 to back the civil service aspirants who have been demanding the cancellation of the Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) examination, which was held in December last year.

He was produced before a Patna court Monday afternoon, which granted him bail with the condition that, he claimed, he must give a written undertaking not to take part in any “illegal” protest in future.

Mr Kishor and his legal team held that the condition was tantamount to “admitting guilt” and he was then remanded to judicial custody. He was later released by the authorities in the evening.

Prashant Kishor On Why He Rejected Bail

Speaking to reporters outside the court last evening, Prashant Kishor explained why he refused to sign a bail bond.

“I was taken to the court and I was granted bail but in the bail order it was mentioned that I should not do any wrongdoings, so I rejected it and I accepted to go to jail,” he said.

He also narrated the sequence of events of Monday morning: “Around 4 am, police reached Gandhi Maidan, where I have been sitting on an indefinite fast unto death for the last five days. They told me that they were detaining me and asked me to go with them. I left with them. Since my supporters were also with me, it’s natural that a minor clash broke out (between them and the police). But by and large, the behaviour of the police was not wrong.”

“After we left Gandhi Maidan, the police didn’t tell me where they were taking me. They took me to AIIMS. I was there for more than an hour. They refused to admit me and I have no idea why. The police then tried to take me to a different hospital but by then a large crowd of my supporters had gathered at the gate of AIIMS. There was again a minor clash at the gate. From there, the behaviour of the police started deteriorating,” he added.

He claimed he was made to sit in the police vehicle from 5 am to 11 am and that they kept taking him to different places.

“They told me they would either take me to PMCH (Patna Medical College and Hospital) or NMCH (Nalanda Medical College and Hospital) but eventually, after five hours, they took me to Fatuha’s community centre. They wanted to conduct my medical test and get a certificate from the doctors there. I refused to give my consent for that because I wasn’t involved in any criminal activity. Police tried to convince the doctors for a certificate but they refused to give any such illegal certificate,” Mr Kishor alleged.

He claimed that the police argued that they had to take a “longer route for crowd management”.

Patna:

Jan Suraaj chief Prashant Kishor was arrested early this morning, five days after he started an indefinite fast at Patna’s Gandhi Maidan. 

Police said they removed Mr Kishor and his supporters from the protest site as they were “illegally” holding the demonstration near a restricted area.

#WATCH | BPSC protest | Bihar: Patna Police detains Jan Suraaj chief Prashant Kishor who was sitting on an indefinite hunger strike at Gandhi Maidan pic.twitter.com/cOnoM7EGW1

— ANI (@ANI) January 5, 2025

“Despite repeated requests by the officials concerned, they did not leave the place. They had also been served notice by the district administration to shift their dharna to Gardani Bagh, the dedicated place for holding protests, in the state capital, “Patna District Magistrate Chandrashekhar Singh told the news agency PTI.

He was taken to Patna AIIMS for a medical check-up after his arrest.

Gandhi Maidan is a couple of kilometres from the spot where several candidates have been on a round-the-clock protest for about two weeks.

Why Prashant Kishor Was On Indefinite Hunger Strike

Prashant Kishor began his fast unto death on January 2, backing the civil service aspirants who have been demanding the cancellation of the Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) examination, which was held on December 13 last year.

Photo Credit: PTI

Mr Kishor, who was an election strategist before he plunged into politics full-time, has been actively supporting the protesting candidates, further bringing attention to their demands for a retest of the entire 70th preliminary examination.

He has vowed that the fight would continue regardless of any government action against him.

His political party, Jan Suraaj, is expected to contest in all seats of Bihar in the next assembly election and is banking heavily on support from students.

A retest for a select group of candidates who had appeared in the BPSC exam was held on Saturday.

Out of 12,012 candidates, around 5,900 students appeared for the retest, which took place at 22 centres in Patna.