By announcing the ‘complete cancellation’ of the JSSC-CGL (Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission Combined Graduate Level) exam and all recruitment tests, results, and selections handled by the outsourced private agency TDPL (TSR Data Processing Private Limited), the Hemant Soren government appears to have struck a master stroke in the political landscape of Jharkhand.

In effect, students-led protests were split. And, the CM Soren together with ally Congress Rahul Gandhi, having doused the growing flame of students agitation, appears to have initiated a move to launch a nation -wide agitation against the Narendra Modi government for what he had earlier alleged, “stripping states of their fiscal rights after Parliament rushed through the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026 in August 2026.” Soren had dubbed the amended Bill as ‘Black Bill’.

Incidentally, other regional anti -Modi satraps, including Congress leaders, including Kerala Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan, had also voiced fierce opposition, calling the legislation a direct assault on India’s federal structure.

In brief, Soren’s dual move has far-reaching implications. First, the announcement made by him on Monday evening, after receiving a letter from the ally Congress leader and LoP Rahul Gandhi, and holding a ‘ special cabinet meeting’ with Ministers late in the evening yesterday (August 17, 2026), has clearly angered groups of agitating students.

The group led by Devendra Nath Mahato and others who were on hunger strike during the past 16-days broke their fast at Sadar Hospital in Ranchi, followed by others. They had cheered the CM Soren’s announcement and thanked him for assuring them that cancellation of exams would include the JPSC (Jharkhand Public Service Commission) and the JSSC CGL (Jharkhand Staff Selection Committee-Combined Graduate Level) exams and the investigation will go back till 2014.

But another major group under the banner of JPSC-JSSC Manch (including the JPSC-JSSC Reforms Manch and Nyay Manch), which had first launched the agitation in Jharkhand, has not called off its agitation till now.

The Manch leader Ravindra Paswan said that the agitation will continue till their demand for a CBI probe is accepted. "The demand for a CBI investigation has not yet been accepted, and until the demand for a CBI probe is met, we will continue our movement," he said. They are slated to hold a meeting today (August 18, 2026) and make public their stand point soon.

Notwithstanding Paswan’s viewpoint, CM Soren seems to have also opened a Pandora's box, a jar containing all the evils of Babu and Netas, leaving only hope inside.

Why? 

CM Soren’s recorded statement is this.”All the mistakes, big or small, that have occurred since 2014 will be investigated. The CID will probe all exams held in Jharkhand since 2014," Soren said. "We have decided to constitute a committee for reforms under the chairmanship of our IAS officer, Mr. Amitabh Kaushal," he added.

This means, if the CM’s statement is turned into a reality, which does not seem likely, all selected by JPSC and JSSC and appointed by the state government, who have been either working as teachers, magistrates, and so on, will face the long arms of the law.

Against this backdrop, the students - who were on Day -25 of their protests on Tuesday -- have been demanding reforms in the exam system and action over alleged irregularities in examinations conducted by the JPSC and JSSC. The cancelation of JSSC-CGL examinations - where question papers were leaked in 2024 -- has been only one of their key demands.

In any case, shortly after the CM’s announcement, Manch student leader Ravindra Paswan said that the agitation will continue till their demand for a CBI probe is accepted.

"We have won a major battle, but there's still more to this... We want to thank the Chief Minister for finally hearing our demand after 24 days, but the question remains that until there is a CBI investigation, we will continue our hunger strike," he added.

Alongside, the JMM and Congress workers were reportedly united and working round the clock at the district, block and village level to launch a massive movement against the  “ Black Bill”- Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026 in August 2026.