NCP (SP) Holds Motorcycle Rallies in Thane and Across State Over Paper Leaks
The Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar faction) on Thursday organised 'Tiranga Motorcycle Rallies' across several districts in Maharashtra, including Thane, Mumbai, Pune, and Nashik, to protest against rising unemployment, alleged paper leaks in recruitment examinations, and inflation.
According to the party, the rallies were organised to highlight issues affecting students and unemployed youth, with party delegations submitting memorandums to respective District Collectors.
NCP (SP) state president Shrikant Shinde said in a statement on X that the party took to the streets to demand immediate attention to recruitment delays. Shinde alleged that lakhs of government posts remain vacant from the Mantralaya level to the Gram Panchayat level, without recruitment drives being conducted to fill them.
Shinde also raised concerns over recurring examination paper leaks, stating that they undermine the hard work of aspirants preparing for Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) examinations. He alleged that corrupt officials and individuals with political patronage were compromising the recruitment process.
In Nagpur, a major protest was led by former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh. The rally commenced at Samvidhan Chowk and proceeded towards the District Collector’s Office, with participants carrying the national flag on their motorcycles.
Speaking during the protest, Deshmukh said the demonstrations targeted several pressing issues, including youth anger over paper leak cases, rising inflation, stalled recruitments, and the implementation of smart meters. He specifically criticised the government over the recent MPSC Drug Inspector examination paper leak and questioned why the recruitment was cancelled instead of being properly resolved, particularly when the Food and Drug Administration department faces staff shortages.
The protests came in the wake of the arrest of six people in connection with the MPSC Drug Inspector paper leak case. Three of those arrested are reportedly MPSC officials. A court remanded all six accused to police custody until September 2, following the MPSC's decision to cancel the recruitment process for the Group-B posts.
