Telangana BJP launches indefinite hunger strike over intermediate board results fiasco

Leaders of Telangana Bharatiya Janata Party went on an indefinite hunger strike in Hyderabad on Monday, demanding justice for the intermediate students over "errors" in their state board results.

BJP Telangana state president K Laxman along with some other party activists started the sit-in hunger strike at Namapally in Hyderabad.

Laxman said, "Telangana government has failed to solve the issue of intermediate students. It has been 10 days (since the students' protest started) and so many students have committed suicide in this period. We have approached the Governor on the matter."

"We demand the government to suspend Education Minister Guntakandla Jagadish Reddy. We will continue this strike until intermediate students get justice," he said.

Over three lakh students reportedly failed in the intermediate exams conducted by the Board of Intermediate Education (BIE) in the state. This led to protests by students and parents alleging large-scale discrepancies in the examination process.

According to reports, around 18 students have committed suicide across Telangana after failing in the intermediate exams.

National Human Rights Commission had earlier issued a notice to the chief secretary of the state over the student suicides.

Students and parents have been demanding a re-evaluation of all intermediate answer sheets and suspension of Telangana State Board of Intermediate Education Secretary A Ashok over 'faulty' results.

The government has constituted a three-member team to probe the alleged fiasco.