The Monsoon session of the Jharkhand Assembly began on Thursday with the BJP legislators attending the House wearing masks as a symbolic protest against alleged irregularities in recruitment examinations conducted by the Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) and the Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission (JSSC).BJP legislators protest outside Jharkhand assembly in Ranchi on Thursday over examination irregularities. (HT Photo)The masks worn by the saffron party MLAs, including Leader of the Opposition Babulal Marandi, carried a printed message demanding the government’s reply on the alleged irregularities and a CBI inquiry into them. The irregularities are currently being probed by the Crime Investigation Department of the Jharkhand Police.Earlier, before the session started, the BJP-led NDA legislators also staged a protest on the Assembly premises, demanding a CBI probe into the alleged irregularities in recruitment examinations. Speaking to reporters, Leader of the Opposition Babulal Marandi said neither the public nor the protesting students trust the ongoing CID probe.“I have been raising this issue for a long time, both inside and outside the house. The seats have been sold in both the JPSC and JSSC exams. I raised this issue in 2024 as well. Had an impartial inquiry been conducted then, we wouldn’t have come to this. This entire CID probe is an eyewash. Therefore, we are demanding a court-monitored CBI inquiry besides cancelling all such examinations where irregularities have cropped up,” Marandi said.The ruling front however questioned the opposition’s demands while welcoming the students’ decision to accept the request for talks, underlining that the government would address their issues with ‘sensitivity’.“The BJP does not have the moral right to question the government. They should first give an account of their leaders whose relatives got into the first and second JPSC exams conducted under their regime. The CBI is probing those cases, but still, things have reached nowhere even after 20 years. Even in this case, the BJP started raising its voice and posting on social media only after our government took action on its own, conducted raids, and made arrests after receiving complaints,” said Higher and Technical Education Minister Sudivya Kumar.Later, the House assembled briefly on the opening day of the session and adjourned till 11 am on Friday after obituary references were made to eminent personalities who died recently.Addressing the House, Speaker Rabindra Nath Mahato said there would be five working days during the Monsoon session, from August 6 to 12, and that the first supplementary budget for the 2026-27 fiscal would also be tabled.“I am confident of conducting all the sittings of the session with utmost seriousness, discipline and constructiveness,” he said.Mahato said democracy was not merely the rule of the majority but also a culture of dialogue, tolerance and mutual respect for differing views.“The ruling party and the opposition are equally vital components of the democratic system. While differences of opinion are natural, public interest must always remain paramount,” the Speaker said.Mahato appealed to the members to make the session disciplined, dignified, result-oriented and people-centric, so that the deliberations held here further strengthen the state’s democratic values and the bond with the public.Members of the House observed a minute’s silence in memory of politicians, artists, social workers, litterateurs and common citizens who passed away recently. Among them were former Congress Minister Mannan Mallick, former MLA Madhav Lal Singh, Asha Bhosle, Bashir Badr, Jaspal Rana and Santhali writer Ravilal Tudu.