BJP Minister Claims MPSC Protesters Paid ₹3,000 a Day to Fuel Unrest

Mumbai: Maharashtra minister Jaykumar Gore stoked a political controversy claiming that young protesters and participants in demonstrations across the country are being paid Rs 3,000 per day to fuel unrest.

Congress spokesperson Atul Londhe demanded a public apology from Gore, accusing him of insulting students through his remarks on the protest.

Speaking at a rally in Malsiras, Gore alleged that foreign forces are actively trying to destabilize India by funding these agitations.

“Some foreign powers are apprehensive as they see India emerging as the world’s super power.

Hence, these external forces are attempting to destabilize the country by creating conditions that could undermine the existing regime.

At present, a series of various protests is underway across the nation.

The participants in these demonstrations are being paid Rs 3,000 per day to fuel unrest in the country,” the minister said.

The comments drew immediate backlash from opposition parties.

Senior Congress Spokesperson Atul Londhe Gore to sit alongside protesting Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) aspirants in Pune, offering to pay him Rs 3,000 per day to join their agitation.

“I will pay minister Jaykumar Gore Rs 3,000 per day if he sits with the students during their protest,” Londhe said.

The minister’s remarks amounted to a serious insult to aspirants who had taken to the streets to demand justice, he added.

Londhe also questioned Gore’s reported claim that foreign forces were behind the students’ agitation.

Referring to the nearly 13 years of the Narendra Modi Government at the Centre, he asked how foreign forces could allegedly reach Pune to influence a protest if the country was being governed effectively.

The MPSC aspirants had staged a 10-day protest in Pune and forced the BJP-led Mahayuti government to yield to their demands, the Congress leader said before the BJP government had failed to address persistent problems concerning government recruitment and competitive examinations in Maharashtra.

He claimed that around 70,000 posts remained vacant and alleged that the government had failed to fill them.

He also pointed to disruptions in the MPSC examination schedule and alleged that question paper leaks and irregularities had undermined the examination process.

Students in Maharashtra have launched a statewide agitation to protest the leaking of question papers for various recruitment exams conducted by the MPSC over the past two years.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis assured them that a Special Investigation Team (SIT) would probe the 2025 MPSC Group B and Group C preliminary and main examinations.