New Delhi [India], July 28 (ANI): Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday criticized the BJP-led government over police action against students protesting the NEET-UG paper leak in the national capital, questioning who ordered the use of pellet guns and saying Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah must answer.
Participating in the debate on the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026, in the Lok Sabha, Priyanka Gandhi accused the government of “hollowing out” the education system by “filling it with RSS pracharaks” and alleged that there had been 152 paper leak incidents over the past 10 years, “but not one mafia has been punished.”
The Congress leader accused the government of excessive centralisation and said it had forcibly created the National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducts the NEET examination.
Referring to the reported use of AK-47 rifles during protests in Bihar, Priyanka Gandhi questioned whether the protesters were being treated as terrorists.
“What was the need to unleash pellet guns and AK-47s on the country’s youth? Were they terrorists?… Who gave the order to use pellet guns?… Was it the Prime Minister? Was it the Home Minister? They must answer. The entire nation is asking. It is not just the Congress party; the entire nation is demanding an answer,” she said.
The Siwan district administration in Bihar later said that the use of an AK-47 during the protest was unauthorised and inappropriate for public crowd-control operations, and the constable involved had been suspended.
Priyanka Gandhi also recalled meeting the mother of a student who was injured during police action at the protest.
“A few days ago, we went to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital to enquire about the condition of the Delhi student who was battling for her life in the ICU after being injured in a police lathi charge. A short while before we reached there, Union Health Minister JP Nadda had visited her, and shortly before him, another leader had also visited. By the time we arrived, the girl’s mother was upset with the repeated visits by politicians… When we reached there, the girl’s mother, standing outside the ICU door, asked us, ‘Why have you come?’ With folded hands and trembling hands, she said, ‘Thank you for coming, but I do not want to meet anyone. I do not want to speak to anyone.’… The pain of that mother was such that her entire body was trembling. But with a voice full of anguish, she said, ‘Since morning, many big leaders have been coming here one after another, making videos. Even those who are responsible for my daughter’s condition came here. Why?'” Priyanka Gandhi said.
“Perhaps I should not be saying this while standing here in front of everyone, but the plea of that mother left me ashamed. The sound of her broken heart, which echoed through the walls of the hospital, still resonates in my mind. Therefore, with the permission of that mother, I want to ask the Honourable Prime Minister and the Honourable Home Minister through you: What was the need to inflict such oppression on an innocent girl?” she asked.
The Congress leader alleged that the government had consistently weakened sectors that generate employment.
“The examination system itself has failed. There have been 152 paper leaks in the last decade. Crores of students have been affected, yet not a single culprit, not one member of the paper leak mafia has been punished,” she said.
“They have hollowed out our education system by filling it with RSS pracharaks. They further complicated matters by forcibly establishing the NTA and centralising the system. Instead of increasing year by year, the share of the education budget in the country’s total budget is actually declining,” she added.
The protest against the NEET-UG paper leak was withdrawn after Dharmendra Pradhan resigned as Union Education Minister.
Earlier in the day, Union Minister Jitendra Singh moved the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026, in the Lok Sabha for consideration and passage. (ANI)
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