Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to “sack” Dharmendra Pradhan as the Union education minister 'right now' or take the responsibility for the NEET-UG 2026 ‘paper leak’.
Gandhi released a video message on Saturday, appealing to PM Modi. He said, “22 lakh NEET kids have been cheated,” after the NEET-UG exam was cancelled following allegations of a “paper leak.”
He posted the video on X with the caption: “22 lakh NEET kids have been cheated. But Modi ji isn't saying a word. Remove Dharmendra Pradhan ji right now, or take responsibility yourself. Modi ji, SACK Dharmendra Pradhan ji NOW.”
What did Rahul Gandhi say? Full statement
In the video, Rahul Gandhi claimed that 22 lakh students worked day and night for two years, preparing for the NEET examination. "But their hard work has now been wasted," he said.
Gandhi said the entire country knows that two days before the medical examination was to be conducted, the “NEET paper was distributed on WhatsApp.”
He claimed, “India's Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan says that he does not have anything to do with the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak.”
“The committee had made a recommendation, but he threw it in a dustbin. They said people from the Opposition are sitting on the committee. It doesn't mean anything, it's not needed,” Gandhi said.
“The truth is, you have damaged the core, the centre of India. This is a nexus, RSS-BJP and their colleagues in the universities, vice chancellors and professors. They have this nexus of making money, and they have destroyed India's education system,” Rahul Gandhi alleged.
“The country knows this that if you want to become a Vice Chancellor, you don;t need the knowledge of the subject, no experiebce. If you are from the RSS, you can become a Vice Chancellor. But if your ideology is not that of the RSS, you cannot be the Vice Chancellor,” Gandhi added.
“This is the reason that in this country, paper has been leaked 80 times, and the future of 2 crore youth has been ruined,” Rahul Gandhi said.
He added, “The Prime Minister should immediately demand the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhanji. He shall be sacked, and those who are guilty must be caught and sent to jail.”
NEET-UG 2026 row
The undergraduate-level National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) held on May 3 by the National Testing Agency (NTA) for admissions to medical education programmes was cancelled on May 12 amid allegations of paper leak, which are now being probed by the CBI.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Friday announced that the NEET-UG re-exam would be conducted on June 21. He added that the medical entrance exam would be computer-based from next year onwards as part of reforms in view of allegations of irregularities linked to it.
Students across the nation protested, criticising the move to re-conduct the exam. The National Students' Union of India (NSUI) workers held a protest against the central government. Protestors were seen climbing the barricades at Shastri Bhavan, marking their protest, news agency ANI reported.
As per the NTA, 22.79 lakh students appeared for the exam, which was held across 551 cities in India and 14 cities abroad, covering more than 5,400 centres.
