Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday accused the Centre of ignoring repeated allegations of irregularities in national entrance examinations after fresh claims emerged regarding the UGC-NET June 2026 examination.
Sharing a media report on X, the Leader of the Opposition alleged that a document linked to the Sociology paper had been circulated before the June 30 examination and claimed that nearly 90 questions matched the final paper. He also alleged that question papers were being sold across several states, including Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi and Rajasthan.
The National Testing Agency (NTA) did not immediately respond to the specific allegations. Separately, the agency has said it is examining representations from candidates regarding alleged spelling mistakes and translation issues in the Sociology paper and that subject experts will review the concerns under its established procedures.
Speaking to LiveMint, Haryana state president of ASAP (the Aam Aadmi Party's student wing) Deepak Dhankhar, whose allegations were referenced by Gandhi, claimed the leaked material matched all 100 questions in the Sociology paper rather than about 90.
Dhankhar alleged that he and another individual were present at a location where candidates were allegedly being coached using the leaked material before the examination. He claimed students later told him the questions, answer options and spelling mistakes matched the actual examination paper.
Dhankhar, however, acknowledged that he had not personally compared the leaked document with the examination paper. He said his conclusion was based on accounts provided by students and teachers after the examination. LiveMint could not independently verify these claims.
He further claimed that his team obtained a copy of the PDF before the examination and later circulated it among teachers, who allegedly confirmed through students that it matched the Sociology paper. He alleged that the document appeared to contain paper-setting material and called for a forensic examination, saying such an exercise could establish when the file was created and circulated.
Dhankhar said he would cooperate with any investigation and claimed to possess the leaked PDF, contact numbers of alleged intermediaries and a bank account allegedly shared for payments. He also alleged that CCTV footage and mobile location records could help investigators corroborate parts of his account. LiveMint could not independently verify these assertions.
Asked about allegations that candidates were charged ₹2.25 lakh for access to question papers, Dhankhar said his team did not have transaction records or payment screenshots to substantiate the figure. He said an undercover operation intended to gather further evidence was disrupted before it could be completed.
Dhankhar also alleged that members of his family were illegally detained and that pressure was exerted to prevent the allegations from becoming public. He claimed his team intended to expose similar alleged leak networks involving other competitive examinations. LiveMint could not independently verify these allegations.
Separately, the Students' Federation of India has protested over alleged irregularities in the UGC-NET examination, demanding an independent inquiry, while Delhi Police denied allegations that excessive force was used during the demonstration.
(With PTI and ANI inputs)
