Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke has stepped up his engagement with Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) aspirants, holding a dialogue with students in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar on September 20 and calling for reforms in the recruitment body.
During the interaction, Dipke urged aspirants to post two-minute videos on Instagram demanding the removal of MPSC chairman Vivek Bhimanwar, while also raising concerns about unemployment among Maharashtra’s youth. He later thanked Sambhajinagar for the response to the interaction.
The meeting comes amid protests over alleged irregularities in MPSC examinations, particularly the Drug Inspector Group-B recruitment examination, which the commission cancelled in August following a preliminary inquiry into alleged malpractice and a police investigation.
The latest mobilisation follows an earlier September 14 meeting between Dipke, MPSC aspirants and teachers in Sambhajinagar, after which CJP announced a September 24 deadline for the MPSC chairman and secretary to resign and threatened a wider statewide campaign if the demand was not met.
Ashutosh Ranka, a CJP spokesperson, subsequently drew attention with the message, “Time to take on MPSC,” reflecting the organisation’s growing focus on the commission and its handling of examination-related concerns.
Meanwhile, MPSC chairman Vivek Bhimanwar has rejected allegations against him, saying the Drug Inspector paper-leak episode occurred before he took charge and that the commission had approached the police and constituted an internal high-level committee.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has also said recruitment examinations must be conducted transparently and assured students that investigations would cover the Drug Inspector case as well as certain earlier examinations.
Sambhajinagar Dialogue Puts Aspirants Centre Stage
Dipke’s September 20 interaction in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar placed MPSC aspirants at the centre of a growing debate over the credibility and transparency of Maharashtra’s competitive examination system.
According to media reports, the CJP founder asked students to use social media to raise their concerns, specifically urging them to publish two-minute Instagram videos calling for Bhimanwar’s removal. He also linked the examination controversy to the wider issue of employment, saying that the number of unemployed young people in the state was a matter of concern.
The interaction followed a September 13-14 round of discussions involving MPSC aspirants, teachers and CJP representatives in Sambhajinagar. At that meeting, participants discussed alleged irregularities in the recruitment process and the demand for accountability from senior MPSC officials.
CJP subsequently announced that it would stand with the aspirants and set September 24 as the deadline for the MPSC chairman and secretary to resign. If the demand was not met, the organisation said Dipke and its members would undertake a statewide tour to meet aspirants and take up their concerns.
The issue has since moved beyond a single examination or city. Dipke has interacted with students in other parts of Maharashtra, while CJP has sought to turn the concerns of individual aspirants into a wider campaign. The message from Ranka “Time to take on MPSC” has therefore appeared against a backdrop of sustained student mobilisation rather than as an isolated social-media reaction.
For many aspirants, the controversy is about more than the outcome of one recruitment examination. Competitive examinations determine access to government jobs after months or years of preparation, often involving significant financial and personal sacrifices. Allegations of a compromised examination can therefore affect not only candidates who directly participated in the affected test but also wider confidence in the recruitment system.
Paper Leak Probe Intensifies Pressure
The immediate trigger for the current controversy was the Drug Inspector Group-B recruitment examination conducted by MPSC on March 22, 2026. The examination was held across six divisional headquarters, with results declared on June 12.
A total of 506 candidates were initially declared eligible for interviews, while interviews were conducted for 488 candidates between July 1 and July 22. The commission subsequently cancelled the entire recruitment process after complaints alleging that the question paper had been compromised.
The cancellation came after complaints were received by the commission between July 22 and July 26. A preliminary police inquiry subsequently led to arrests in the case. Mumbai Crime Branch arrested six people in August, including three MPSC officials, according to police reports.
Investigators alleged that examination questions were accessed before the test and circulated to unauthorised individuals. The MPSC has announced that a fresh examination will be conducted, with candidates from the cancelled recruitment process not required to submit fresh applications or pay another examination fee.
The investigation has also produced competing claims about the scale and timing of the alleged leak. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said in August that strict action would be taken against anyone found responsible and that no one would be spared irrespective of political affiliation.
He also said the government’s understanding at the time was that the paper had reached an individual rather than being a mass leak, while the entire recruitment process was cancelled as a precaution.
MPSC chairman Vivek Bhimanwar has separately defended himself against calls for his resignation. In a statement on September 2, he said the incident related to the Drug Inspector examination occurred in January, before he took charge as MPSC chairman.
He said he took oath on February 18 and assumed office on March 3. Bhimanwar said the commission had taken the allegations seriously, lodged a police complaint and established an internal high-level committee to recommend preventive and security measures. He also said that, since taking charge, his focus had been on strengthening the credibility, transparency, efficiency and security of the commission’s examination and recruitment processes.
Bhimanwar later went further, saying that if evidence establishing wrongdoing against him was produced, he would not remain in office. His position has not, however, ended demands for his resignation. NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar has continued to question the commission’s handling of the episode, while Dipke and CJP have also made the chairman’s resignation a central demand. These are political allegations and demands; the investigation into the alleged leak remains the appropriate basis for determining individual responsibility.
The Maharashtra government has also indicated that the scrutiny could extend beyond the Drug Inspector examination. On September 10, Fadnavis met representatives of MPSC aspirants and said investigations would cover the Drug Inspector case as well as the Group B and Group C Main and Preliminary examinations of 2025, along with examinations conducted by the Pune Municipal Corporation and MMRDA where complaints had been raised.
He said interviews for posts connected to examinations under scrutiny would remain stayed until the investigations were completed.
The Logical Indian’s Perspective
For thousands of young people preparing for government examinations, the integrity of the recruitment process is inseparable from their trust in public institutions. When allegations of paper leaks or irregularities emerge, the priority should be to establish facts through a transparent, credible and time-bound investigation while ensuring that genuine candidates are not left carrying the consequences of failures they did not cause.
Students have every reason to ask questions about examination security, accountability and the safeguards being put in place; authorities, in turn, have a responsibility to answer those questions with evidence and clarity rather than allowing uncertainty to persist.
