The Congress on Wednesday attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government over a “collapsed” examination system, and demanded the immediate removal of Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan over repeated paper leaks and student suicides.
“The Prime Minister [Narendra Modi] makes reels before [board] exams for [his annual] Pariksha pe Charcha [interaction with students, teachers, and parents] and goes silent after the paper leaks,” said Kanhaiya Kumar, the in charge of Congress’s student wing, the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI).
Kumar said the Congress, NSUI, and Youth Congress would continue their agitation from Parliament to the streets. He flagged complaints about the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) preliminary examination, with students alleging out-of-syllabus questions and insufficient time per question. “The UPSC syllabus does not leak. The NEET paper does. That tells you everything about this government,” he said, referring to the compromised National Eligibility cum Entrance Test- Undergraduate (NEET-UG) 2026.
He said Modi has not said a word about the NEET issue and questioned the compulsion for keeping an “incompetent” education minister in place. “He is your own Cabinet minister, not Trump’s, whom you are trembling before.”
The National Testing Agency (NTA) cancelled the NEET-UG 2026 on May 13, nine days after 2.27 million students took the examination across 551 cities. The move came after central agencies confirmed that the question paper had been compromised. Questions were available on the phones of some as early as May 1, two days before the exam.
Kumar alleged that papers have been leaked over 80 times across examinations under the current government. “The NTA sends admit cards with photos of random people. Check the background of the NTA director, and you will find a political RSS [Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh]-BJP connection.”
The Congress announced a helpline (9260030030) for Central Board of Secondary Education students facing issues with online screening and answer sheet marks. It said a separate number for NEET students would also be made available. Kumar appealed to students not to take their lives. “Do not give up your precious life for someone else’s failure. If you must fight, fight for your rights,” he said.
There was no immediate response from the BJP.
