'As long as BJP is in power, paper leaks will persist': Akhilesh Yadav attacks Centre over exam irregularities

Yadav said the government had failed to learn from previous incidents despite repeated controversies surrounding competitive examinations.

NEW DELHI: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday launched a sharp attack on the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), alleging that recurring examination paper leaks were the result of the Centre’s failure to fix the system and would continue for as long as the party remained in power.The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said repeated examination irregularities were putting the future of students and job aspirants at risk, days after the National Testing Agency (NTA) cancelled the NEET (UG) 2026 examination over paper leak. Calling the issue a persistent failure of governance, Yadav said the government had failed to learn from previous incidents despite repeated controversies surrounding competitive examinations.”This is nothing new under this government. Issues regarding education, examinations, and paper leaks are recurring events; the government fails to learn from its mistakes, and the consequence is that our students and those preparing for exams are the ones who suffer,” Yadav said.Taking aim at the Centre’s vision of a “Viksit Bharat”, he questioned how the government expected to create employment while examination irregularities continued unabated.”The government speaks of building a ‘Viksit Bharat’ but if paper leaks continue in this developed India, who will provide employment? This is a major question… as long as the BJP government remains in power, paper leaks will persist. There is only one party in the country creating this crisis: the BJP. The crisis will only be resolved when the BJP is removed from power,” he asserted.His remarks come in the wake of the NTA’s decision to cancel NEET (UG) 2026, which was held on 3 May, following allegations of a paper leak. The agency said the examination would be conducted again on dates to be announced later and added that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) would carry out a comprehensive probe into the allegations.Earlier this week, Yadav also questioned the credibility of conducting the examination again, asking what assurance candidates had that the paper would not be leaked once more.In a post on X, he said, “The news has sparked immense anger and despair among millions of children and their family members against the BJP’s corrupt system.”The SP chief alleged that the examination system would remain vulnerable to paper leaks as long as the BJP was in office.”As long as the BJP government is there, exams will keep getting leaked; only after the BJP is gone will the examination system be set right,” Yadav said, describing the BJP government as a “failed government”.Separately on Saturday, Yadav also criticised the Uttar Pradesh government over the alleged embezzlement of donations at the Ram Mandir, questioning the findings of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) and asking why the state administration had failed to detect the alleged wrongdoing despite repeated visits by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to Ayodhya.”The SIT report itself indicates that CCTV footage was tampered with. Was the Chief Minister setting a record for the number of visits to Ayodhya just to oversee ongoing theft? Why is it that, despite making so many visits, he remained unaware of the activities taking place within the temple complex?” he asked.He further argued that Ayodhya’s infrastructure did not meet international standards expected of a global pilgrimage destination.”The development and work carried out in Ayodhya fell short of expectations; a place visited by people from across the globe should feature world-class infrastructure, and the devotees arriving with faith deserve international-standard amenities,” Yadav said.