The cancellation of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (Undergraduate) 2026 amid allegations of paper leak and examination irregularities triggered a political storm on Tuesday, with Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP of being “partners in the theft” of students’ future.
Opposition parties accused the Narendra Modi government of failing to safeguard the future of lakhs of students and demanded accountability from the National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducts the examination.
NEET-UG 2026 cancelled: Follow LIVE updates on May 12, 2026
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge demanded strict action against officials responsible for the leak. “This is also tarnishing the reputation of our students as people may say they passed the exam by copying,” Mr. Kharge told reporters.
In a post on X, Mr. Gandhi said the hard work, sacrifices and dreams of more than 22 lakh students had been “crushed by this corrupt BJP regime”. “Some fathers took loans, some mothers sold their jewellery, lakhs of children stayed up all night studying, and in return, they got paper leaks, government negligence, and organised corruption in education,” he said in his post.
Calling the development “not just a failure” but “a crime against the future of the youth”, Mr. Gandhi alleged that “paper mafias” repeatedly escaped punishment while honest students suffered mental stress, financial burden and uncertainty due to the re-examination process.
“If one’s destiny is determined not by hard work but by money and connections, what meaning will education hold? The Prime Minister’s so-called Amrit Kaal has turned into a Vish Kaal (poison-filled era) for the country,” Mr. Gandhi said.
Referring to the 2024 NEET controversy in a subsequent post, he urged students to do an online search and find out where the then NTA chief was currently posted. “See that? Get it now? The BJP rewards those who toy with the futures of millions of hardworking students by protecting and promoting them. It is clear Modi ji and the BJP are themselves partners in the theft of your future,” he said.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Communist Party of India also condemned the alleged paper leak and demanded structural reforms in the examination system. In separate statements, the CPI(M) and the CPI said lakhs of students had been subjected to severe psychological distress due to repeated irregularities in national examinations.
The CPI(M) demanded the disbanding of the NTA, decentralisation of examinations through government bodies, a comprehensive inquiry into the leak, and strict punishment for those responsible.
CPI general secretary D. Raja described the cancellation of the test as evidence of a “collapse” of the examination system and reiterated the party’s opposition to NEET, calling it “unjust and discriminatory”. He alleged that repeated examination scams and cancellations disproportionately harmed poor and rural students while benefiting coaching centres and privileged sections.
Former Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party national convener Arvind Kejriwal alleged “political patronage” behind repeated paper leaks and said the NEET question paper had leaked four times in the last nine years. “I want to tell the students that they will have to come out on the streets. This government understands only the language of mass agitation,” Mr. Kejriwal said.
Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha member Sagarika Ghose said the cancellation had thrown the lives of lakhs of students into “disarray and anxiety”. In a post on X, she alleged there was “zero accountability” in the Modi government and described the administration as “incapable of daily governance”.
Published - May 12, 2026 10:30 pm IST