‘Vishwaguru’ claims ring hollow when exams keep failing, Rahul Gandhi tells Modi

Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Saturday launched a fresh attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over recurring controversies surrounding national examinations, alleging that the government has “completely destroyed” India’s education system while claiming to make the country a “vishwaguru”.

His remarks came after the National Testing Agency (NTA) acknowledged that the Common University Entrance Test for Undergraduate programmes (CUET-UG) 2026 was delayed at some centres on Saturday due to a technical glitch.

In a post on X, Gandhi linked the latest disruption to a series of controversies involving major national examinations and questioned the government's ability to conduct tests smoothly and transparently.

“NEET, CBSE, SSC, and today, CUET. Four examinations. One crore students. Not a single one could be conducted honestly,” Gandhi said in a post in Hindi.

Taking a swipe at the Prime Minister, he added: “Claims of being a ‘vishwaguru’, but are unable to conduct even a single examination within the country — Modi Ji has completely destroyed the entire education system.”

The Congress leader further alleged that the government was jeopardising the future of young Indians through repeated failures in the examination system.

“The very generation whose future you are ruining — that same generation will hold you accountable,” he said.

The latest criticism comes amid a broader political row over alleged irregularities in several competitive and board examinations, including the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET), the CBSE’s On-Screen Marking (OSM) system, and recruitment examinations conducted by the Staff Selection Commission (SSC).

On Friday, Gandhi had accused the Prime Minister of remaining silent on the CBSE evaluation controversy and alleged that the Centre was unwilling to fix accountability within the education system.

He had also targeted Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, arguing that the government’s failure to act reflected indifference towards the concerns of lakhs of students and their families.

The Congress has been demanding accountability over examination-related controversies and has repeatedly accused the government of failing to safeguard the interests of students.

The NTA has said the delay in CUET-UG at certain centres was caused by a technical issue and that necessary measures were being taken to ensure the smooth conduct of the examination.