Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi: Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan launched a sharp critique against Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Monday amidst the ongoing NEET-UG controversy. Pradhan accused Gandhi of being well-versed in the “fundamentals and maths of unfair practices.”
In a post on X, Pradhan remarked on the Congress-led UPA government’s failure to enact laws to curb malpractices in educational institutions. “The LoP and his cabal are all but shedding crocodile tears. The ground reality on paper leaks during the UPA regime and when Shri Akhilesh was at the helm of UP, will open a can of worms for both Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav,” Pradhan stated.
“Maybe Rahul Gandhi understands the fundamentals and maths of unfair practices too well. That explains why the Congress govt. failed to implement the bills to stop malpractices in educational institutions, including the Prohibition of Unfair Practices Bill, of 2010,” Pradhan added. He challenged Gandhi to explain why Congress refused to enact laws to address irregularities in competitive exams.
Earlier, Gandhi led the Opposition’s criticism of the government in Parliament, highlighting serious issues within the country’s exam system. He accused Pradhan of blaming everyone but himself. “The minister has blamed everybody except himself. I don’t even think he understands the fundamentals of what is going on here… the issue is that millions of students in this country are extremely concerned about what is going on and who is convinced that the Indian examination system is a fraud,” Gandhi asserted. He emphasized that the rich could exploit the examination system and demanded systemic solutions.
Pradhan, visibly upset, responded by defending the government’s record, stating that no evidence of paper leaks had surfaced in the last seven years. He insisted that the government was transparent and accountable, with everything on record.
Samajwadi Party MP Akhilesh Yadav also attacked the government, suggesting that it was setting a record for paper leaks. He called for the National Testing Agency (NTA) to publish a list of centers with high-performing students, questioning the unusual success rates at specific locations.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education informed the Lok Sabha that the NDA government had canceled 16 exams since 2018 to maintain the integrity of the examination process.
