Dharmendra Pradhan on document leak

New Delhi: Rahul Gandhi and “his cabal” are “shedding crocodile tears” and “ground reality” over paper leaks during the UPA regime and when Akhilesh Yadav was at the helm of UP will open a Pandora’s box for both of them, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Monday, as the Opposition targeted him over the NEET-UG row in the Lok Sabha.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi led the opposition’s attack on the government over the leaking of exam papers in Parliament, saying there was a very serious problem in the country’s examination system and Pradhan had blamed everyone except himself for it.

In response, Pradhan asked why the Congress-led government “failed” to implement the bills aimed at ending malpractices in educational institutions, including the Unfair Practices (Prohibition) Bill, 2010, when it was in power.

“LoP and its cabal are just shedding crocodile tears. Ground reality revealed on paper during UPA regime and when Shri Akhilesh was in charge of UP, will open a Pandora’s box for Shri @RahulGandhi and Shri @yadavakhilesh,” Pradhan wrote on X.

“Perhaps Rahul Gandhi understands the fundamentals and mathematics of unfair practices too well. This explains why the Congress government has failed to implement the bills aimed at curbing malpractices in educational institutions, including the Unfair Practices (Prohibition) Bill, 2010.”

“Can the Party League tell us under what constraints, under what pressures and for what reasons did the Congress Party refuse to enact laws to put an end to the irregularities?” he added.

Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, said it was evident to the entire country that there was a very serious problem in the examination system, not just in NEET but in all major examinations.

Under fire from the opposition, Pradhan told the Lok Sabha that he was “here at the mercy of my leader, the Prime Minister” and that his government was collectively responsible.

The minister also claimed that there was no evidence of any leaks of documents in the past seven years.