‘Why haven’t you sacked education minister?’ Rahul Gandhi slams PM Modi over NEET-UG paper leak

New Delhi: Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Sunday went against Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak and questioned why Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan was not removed from the post.In a post on X, Rahul compared the handling of the 2024 and 2026 NEET paper leak cases and asked PM Modi to answer questions raised by the nation.“NEET 2024: Paper leaked. Exam not cancelled. Minister not resigned. CBI starts probe. A committee formed. NEET 2026: Paper leaked. Exam cancelled. Minister not yet resigned. CBI investigating again. Another committee will be formed,” the Congress leader said.“Modiji, the nation has some questions for you – answer them! Why are papers being leaked again and again? Why are you silent on this ‘exam pay talk’ again and again? Why not fire the education minister who has failed again and again?” he added.The National Testing Agency on Tuesday canceled the NEET-UG 2026 conducted on May 3, after investigators found evidence that several questions similar to the exam papers were circulated before the exam.Later the government transferred the case to the court Central Bureau of InvestigationWhile the exam will now be re-conducted on June 21.The cancellation affected around 23 lakh candidates and the entire NEET-UG exam was canceled for the first time since the NTA took charge of conducting the exam in 2019. In 2024, the exam was partially re-administered for 1,563 students due to difference in marks.Meanwhile, the CBI arrested another accused mastermind of the case on Saturday. The accused, identified as Manisha Gurunath Mandhare, is a senior botany teacher from Pune, Maharashtra.According to the agency, Mandre was arrested in Delhi after interrogation. Investigators alleged that he was the source of leaking biology questions in medical entrance exams.The CBI said Mandre was associated with the NEET-UG 2026 examination process and the NTA engaged him as an expert, giving him access to the botany and zoology question papers.Rahul Gandhi on Friday questioned the Center over the rising number of suicides linked to the NEET paper leak controversy. Referring to the death of a 21-year-old student in Uttar Pradesh who committed suicide after the examination was cancelled, he said, “These youngsters did not fail the examination; they were killed by a corrupt system. This is not suicide – it is murder by the system.”