For nearly a month, Babulal Marandi has pursued a single demand with remarkable consistency: a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the alleged irregularities surrounding the Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC).
Marandi, the leader of the Opposition in the Jharkhand assembly and the state’s first chief minister, has addressed press conferences, met protesting students, written repeatedly to chief minister Hemant Soren and accused the government of attempting to shield a compromised recruitment process through a CID (Criminal Investigation Department) probe.
The Soren government has rejected Marandi’s allegations, maintaining that the CID probe is proceeding well and that those responsible are being brought to justice.
But for the BJP’s Marandi, the issue is larger than one examination—it is about restoring faith in merit-based recruitment and protecting the aspirations of young candidates. His campaign gathered momentum as the JPSC controversy snowballed from an examination dispute into one of the state’s biggest institutional crises.
When the JPSC declared results of the 14th Combined Civil Services Preliminary Examination late on the night of July 2, announcing 2,204 successful candidates for just 103 coveted civil services posts, it immediately triggered outrage among candidates. Aspirants were left with barely 17 days to prepare for the Mains examination.
More significantly, the commission did not publish category-wise cut-off marks, an elementary requirement of transparency in any competitive recruitment process. Claims that even some members of the commission had objected to the manner in which the results were declared further caused public anger.
The controversy soon took a dramatic turn. On July 21, the CID arrested eight individuals, including deputy examination controller Shweta Kumari Gupta, two directors of TSR Data Processing Private Limited (TDPL) and several employees of the outsourcing agency. Investigators alleged serious irregularities in the handling of examination data and digital records.
The disclosures proved particularly embarrassing because TDPL, a Lucknow-based company, had reportedly been blacklisted by the Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission (JSSC) in May 2025 over allegations of procedural irregularities and breaches of confidentiality. Despite that record, the company had allegedly continued to handle sensitive examination-related work for the JPSC. Days later, JPSC chairman L. Khiangte, a former chief secretary of Jharkhand, resigned, stating he wished to facilitate a fair investigation.
For Marandi, these developments vindicated what he had been alleging from the outset—that the controversy was not an isolated administrative lapse but evidence of a deeper collapse in the integrity of the state’s recruitment system. He has rejected the state’s reliance on CID investigation. He argues that an inquiry conducted under the same government whose institutions are under scrutiny cannot command the confidence of aspirants. Instead, he has demanded a court-monitored CBI probe into the JPSC examinations and, more broadly, into recruitment processes conducted by both the JPSC and the JSSC.
“When irregularities came to light in the NEET examination, the NDA government at the Centre responded by cancelling the test, conducting a fresh examination, entrusting the probe to the CBI and initiating strict action against those responsible. In Jharkhand, however, seats in the JSSC and JPSC examinations are allegedly being sold openly. Despite serious irregularities, the Hemant Soren government continues to evade accountability. Jharkhand’s youth deserve justice,” Marandi told INDIA TODAY.
The ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) rebutted the charges. “The big fish involved in the conspiracy to malign the government under the guise of the JPSC issue and to play with the future of students will soon be exposed. The moment complaints of irregularities came to light, chief minister Hemant Soren took immediate cognisance and ordered strict action,” JMM general secretary Vinod Kumar Pandey said.
“The government did not confine itself merely to departmental proceedings; it ensured that an FIR was registered, sent the investigating agency to the JPSC office, and initiated questioning of the officials concerned, including the chairman. Several people have already been arrested, which is proof that the Hemant Soren government is working with a zero-tolerance policy against corruption,” Pandey added.
Marandi has also levelled serious allegations regarding the recruitment process, claiming that candidates were asked to pay huge sums to secure appointments at different stages of the examination.
What distinguishes Marandi’s intervention is not merely the demand for a CBI probe but the persistence with which he has pursued the issue. He has remained in constant touch with protesting students, repeatedly raised the matter before the media and sought to frame the controversy as a battle for institutional accountability rather than simply another political confrontation with the ruling coalition.
The campaign has also given the BJP a politically resonant issue centred on governance, transparency and youth aspirations. Coming close on the heels of the national debate over examination integrity following the NEET controversy, the JPSC row has reinforced concerns about the credibility of competitive recruitment systems. In Jharkhand, Marandi has become the Opposition leader most closely identified with those concerns.
Whether the demand for a CBI probe is eventually accepted remains uncertain. What is already evident is that the JPSC controversy has evolved into far more than an examination dispute. It has become a test of public confidence in one of Jharkhand’s most important constitutional institutions. And in that battle, Marandi has positioned himself at its centre—making the fight for a CBI investigation not only the defining issue of his Opposition politics but also one of the most consequential campaigns over recruitment integrity in Jharkhand in recent years.
Subscribe to India Today Magazine
– Ends
