Former Patna College principal Nawal Kishore Choudhary on Tuesday jumped to the defence of the ongoing students' agitation at the College of Arts and Crafts.

During his tenure as an economics professor, Choudhary had supported various students' issues. Sitting on the hunger strike from 8am to 8pm, he urged chief minister Nitish Kumar to intervene in the issue.

Choudhary said: "I have requested former Speaker Uday Narayan Choudhary to speak to the chief minister on the students' agitation at College of Arts and Crafts, particularly after the suicide bid by a student on Monday."

Dalit student Nitish Kumar's bid on his life rocked the campus on Monday. The 20-year-old student, pursuing applied arts in the college, tried the desperate act, as he was mentally upset with the college administration.

Choudhary also spoke to Patna University vice-chancellor Y.C. Simhadri, college principal Chandrabhushan Srivastava and representatives from teachers and non-teaching staff union.

Choudhary said: "I spoke to PU VC Simhadri and urged him to settle the issue. Similarly, I spoke to Srivastava, asking him to revoke the suspension of eight students."

Nitish also sat on dharna with Choudhary on Tuesday. Nitish said: "For the past few months, I am suffering mental torture. The principal is not listening to our demands. He used abusive language against me and my caste."

Political leaders also jumped in defence of the students' agitation. CPI-ML(Liberation) general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, along with other Left leaders, visited the college and expressed solidarity with the students.

The agitation at the College Arts and Crafts has been on for more than a month.

Tension started at the college on April 25 after the suspension of eight students demanding action against a contractor who had allegedly beat up a student on the campus. Ever since, the students' dharna is on, virtually closing the college gate. The ongoing semester examination has been hampered. Agitating students have boycotted the examination and have not allowed many students to write the test. On June 7 and 13, examinees were stopped from writing the test.

Choudhary spoke to PU Teachers' Association (Puta) members and representatives from non-teaching employees' union to seek their support. Sources said if Puta and non-teaching employees' union show support for the art college students, the agitation would gain strength. #PU registrar Sanjay Kumar said: "I have explained the situation to the VC. He is not in town. When he returns on Wednesday, action will be taken."