Youth Cong protest over NEET irregularities in Bengaluru

Youth Congress members on Thursday staged a protest here over the alleged irregularities in the NEET-UG medical entrance exam, demanding accountability from the central government.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and AICC general secretary and state in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala, along with ministers and senior leaders, participated in the demonstration held at Freedom Park here.

During the protest, Siddaramaiah and Surjewala, along with other leaders, were seen releasing a T-shirt captioned ''PM is compromised'', while some leaders were also seen holding T-shirts with the caption ''I am cockroach''.

The protest, organised under the leadership of Karnataka Pradesh Youth Congress State President Manjunath Gowda, witnessed protesters holding placards demanding accountability over the paper leak and raising slogans against the Centre.

Addressing the gathering, Surjewala attacked the BJP-led NDA government, accusing it of ''collapsing'' the education system, citing instances of various paper leaks while pointing out its ''systemic failure'' in conducting national-level examinations.

''For the last 12 years, the Modi government has handed over India's education system to an education mafia and paper leak mafia,'' he alleged.

Surjewala further alleged that multiple recruitment and entrance examinations had been compromised over the years under the Modi government, including NEET and other competitive tests.

Referring to past controversies, he said incidents such as the Vyapam case and alleged leaks in recruitment exams reflected what he called a ''pattern of failure'' in the examination system.

''If thieves are going to control the NEET system in NTA, then who is going to protect the future of our youth,'' he asked.

The Congress leader also questioned the functioning of the National Testing Agency (NTA), alleging irregularities in paper setting and examination conduct, referring to the arrests made by CBI in the case.

He demanded answers from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the alleged paper leak.

Later, the protesters marched towards the Lok Bhavan. They were stopped by the police as they tried to cross the barricades that had been erected.

The NEET (UG) 2026 examination for admission to undergraduate medical courses, held on May 3, was cancelled two days later amid allegations of paper leak.

The Centre has asked the CBI to conduct a comprehensive probe into the alleged irregularities in the examination.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)