‘Scams under BJP rule pushing country's future into darkness’: Priyanka Gandhi amid UGC-NET, NEET row

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led central government on Friday over frequent exam paper leaks, alleging it has become a national issue under the BJP rule, which has "ruined the future" of millions of young people.

Priyanka Gandhi attacked the government amid uproar over alleged irregularities in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) medical entrance exam and the cancellation of the UGC-NET exam due to integrity concerns.

In a post on X, she demanded strict action over the "NEET scam" to ensure justice for 24 lakh students.

Congress leaders and workers held protests on Friday regarding the cancellation of NEET medical exams. The NEET exam was held on May 5, with about 24 lakh students taking it. However, after the results came out on June 4, there were allegations of paper leaks.

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“Today, Indian National Congress colleagues across the country protested against the NEET exam scam. Rampant corruption in recruitments, paper leaks and educational scams under the BJP rule are pushing the country's future into darkness. This game of corruption must be stopped immediately. We demand that there should be immediate and strict action on the scam in the NEET exam so that 24 lakh youth get justice,” Priyanka said in the post.

In another post in Hindi on X. the Congress leader wrote, “In the last five years, papers of 43 recruitment exams have been leaked in the country. Paper leak has become a national problem of our country under BJP rule which has ruined the future of crores of youth so far. India is the youngest country in the world. We have the largest youth population. Instead of making these youth skilled and capable, the BJP government is making them weak.”

Priyanka Gandhi stated that millions of talented students work tirelessly, day and night, to prepare for exams, while their parents make significant sacrifices to support their education.

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“Children wait for years for a vacancy to come. When a vacancy comes, there is the cost of filling the form, the cost of going for the exam, and finally the whole effort is wasted due to corruption. The BJP's corruption is weakening the country,” she further said.

On Thursday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had "psychologically collapsed" post Lok Sabha elections and will now struggle to run the government. He also claimed that the main reason for paper leaks was that educational institutions had been taken over by the BJP and its parent organisation RSS.

The controversy around this year’s NEET began when students at a Rajasthan centre received English question papers instead of Hindi ones. There were also reports of torn OMR sheets and delays in distributing the papers. In Patna, a case was filed over a paper leak, leading to the arrest of 13 people involved in solving and supplying answers, including four examinees.

For weeks, thousands of students protested across India, alleging question paper leaks, inflated marks, and arbitrary grace marks. Opposition parties demanded a Supreme Court-monitored investigation into the issues.