Rahul alleges fresh UGC-NET leak, says govt 'asleep' as scam claims mount

Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday stepped up his attack on the Modi government over alleged irregularities in last week's UGC-NET examination, accusing the Centre of repeatedly failing students by turning a blind eye to examination "scams" and refusing to fix what he described as a broken recruitment and education system.

The Rae Bareli Congress MP alleged that despite the recent controversy over the NEET-UG paper leak, the government had failed to act, emboldening those behind such rackets while leaving lakhs of aspirants to bear the consequences.

Sharing a Hindi media report on X, Gandhi claimed fresh allegations surrounding the June 2026 UGC-NET examination conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) pointed to yet another major breach in the examination process.

According to Gandhi, a 100-page PDF linked to the question paper-setting process was circulated shortly before the examination. He alleged that the document, access to which should have been restricted to the NTA, contained nearly 90 questions that later appeared in the Sociology paper.

He further alleged that the paper was being sold for Rs 2.25 lakh through a network operating across Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi and Rajasthan. Gandhi also claimed the same network had advertised question papers for forthcoming examinations, including CSIR-NET, the Haryana Teacher Eligibility Test (HTET) and the ADA recruitment examination, suggesting the alleged racket extended well beyond a single test.

Drawing parallels with the alleged NEET paper leak, Gandhi said repeated controversies had exposed the Centre's inability or unwillingness to safeguard the integrity of competitive examinations.

"Even after the repeated scams in NEET and NET, the Modi government continues to turn a blind eye and sleep soundly, because the years of hard work put in by lakhs of students — who burn the midnight oil — holds no value for them," he said.

The Congress MP also targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi and education minister Dharmendra Pradhan, alleging that the country had little faith in the government's willingness to act.

"The entire country knows that expecting any accountability or action from the prime minister and education minister is futile. No investigation will happen, nor will students get justice," Gandhi said.

Seeking to turn the issue into a broader political campaign, Gandhi said the only way to force change was through a united student movement. "The only tool for change is our collective voice — the resounding 'Chhatron ki Goonj' across the country, which will bring about an education revolution in India," he said.

There was no immediate response from the NTA to the allegations. Gandhi's claims were based on a media report and allegations raised by student leaders, and have not been independently verified.

With PTI inputs