MPSC Stir Pune: Rohit Pawar Threatens to Shift MPSC Protest to Alka Chowk If Police Do Not Cooperate
Pune, 9th October 2026: NCP MLA Rohit Pawar on Thursday warned that the ongoing agitation by Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) aspirants would be shifted to Alka Chowk on Tilak Road if the police failed to cooperate with the protesters, escalating tensions at the protest site near S M Joshi Bridge.
The agitation, which entered its ninth day on Friday, is demanding the resignation of MPSC chairman Vivek Bhimanwar over allegations of irregularities in the commission’s functioning and other issues affecting aspirants.
Police asked the protesters to vacate the site, citing the lack of permission, traffic congestion and disruption to residents’ daily lives. They suggested that the protesters seek permission to hold their agitation near the Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar statue close to the district collector’s office, assuring them that the request would be considered favourably.
However, Pawar and the protesting students refused to leave the site, leading to a brief spell of tension.
“If the police do not cooperate with us, we will go and sit at Alka Chowk. Vehicles are being deliberately sent by the police to make it appear that our protest is causing traffic congestion. We are not troubling anyone, so do not trouble us. If we sit at Alka Chowk, we will not move,” Pawar said.
The protest began on October 1, with students demanding Bhimanwar’s resignation along with other changes to address their concerns over the MPSC’s functioning.
At the protest site, the demonstrators also paid tribute to actor Nana Patekar. Pawar said Maharashtra had lost a sensitive, talented personality with a strong sense of social responsibility, recalling the actor’s simplicity, forthrightness and humanitarian outlook.
