Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge. File
| Photo Credit: Sushil Kumar Verma
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday (June 16, 2026) accused the BJP government of having completely failed the test of accountability by not asking Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to resign following several exam irregularities.
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He also criticised the government for putting curbs on the Telegram messaging app ahead of the NEET-UG 2026 re-exam on June 21 , "The Modi government has temporarily blocked Telegram for the NEET exam re-test. Modi ji should first demand the resignation of his Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who has blocked the futures of millions of youth," Mr. Kharge said in a post on X.
"Whether it's deploying the Indian Air Force , blocking Telegram, or catching small fish to protect the paper leak mafia — this is all something the Modi government has to do because in the last 10 years, 90 paper leaks have occurred, and 9 crore youth are suffering due to this fraud and corruption. How long will this government keep covering up its failures?" the Congress chief asked.
The Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha claimed that nearly half a dozen young people have been forced to take their own lives due to the exam irregularities.
"Modi ji doesn't utter a single word. There are countless candidates whose parents took loans to prepare them for recruitment exams over years. And then, one after another, NEET, SSC, UGC-NET, CUET, and other exam papers get leaked," he said.
The situation, Mr. Kharge said, has reached such a point that so much fraud was carried out in the CBSE results that talented students had to expose this government.
"And now, the UPSC exam — which was considered the ultimate symbol of credibility — has also come under allegations," he claimed.
"The country's aware youth is demanding just one thing: the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan, which has become the first test of accountability. The unfortunate thing is that the BJP has completely failed this exam," the Congress chief alleged.
The Congress has been demanding the resignation of Mr. Pradhan over the NEET paper irregularities, exam paper leaks and the CBSE on-screen marking row.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will also be addressing a few student conventions across the country starting June 17, 2026 in Kota while seeking to unite the student community against the Modi government over the paper leaks.
Published - June 16, 2026 05:41 pm IST
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