Four students from the tricity were among the top 100 in the country in the NEET-UG 2026, with Madhvan Mahajan leading the pack at all-India rank (AIR) 44 with 696 marks. For several of the region’s top scorers, the results carry an added layer as they had to sit for the exam twice after the original exam was cancelled amid a paper leak row.
Mahajan, 19, a student of Sri Nangali Academics Public School, Gurdaspur, who prepared at Allen Chandigarh and lives in Sector 38, is the son of radiologist Dr Vijay Mahajan and gynaecologist Dr Jyoti Mahajan; his brother Parth is in the fourth year of MBBS. He said his success mantra was consistency and planning, setting daily goals and rolling over anything missed into subsequent days, with revision built around repeated readings of NCERT texts and his own notes. He admitted the re-exam initially felt disappointing but given that he hadn’t scored well in the original NEET-UG, it turned into a second chance that ultimately motivated him.
Prakul Garg, a student of Sri Chaitanya Techno School, Sector 44, secured AIR 63. He said he front-loaded physics and chemistry through most of his preparation, turning his focus to biology only in the final three months. He said he dedicated around 10 to 16 hours daily to self-study. His father Arun Garg is a businessman and mother Neetu Gupta teaches at Government Senior Secondary School, Lohgarh. Prakul, whose hobbies include listening to music and playing chess, said he had aimed for a rank under 10 and credited his father and teachers for backing him through the journey. His advice to future aspirants is to focus on effort rather than anxiety over results, calling it “smart work” rather than hard work alone.
Close behind at AIR 66 was Harshul Garg, 17, of Patel Public School, Rajpura, who also prepared at Allen Chandigarh and resides in the city. His father Dr Varun Garg works with Ayushman Bharat and his mother Dr Ruchi Garg has run her own dental clinic for 18 years; his younger brother Vihaan is in Class 10. Harshul scored 715 in the original NEET-UG before the exam was cancelled, and 695 in the re-test, a dip he took in his stride, saying only faith kept him steady through the two months of uncertainty that followed. He said he revised each topic the same day it was taught, and hopes to become “a good doctor to serve the needy”.
{{/usCountry}}Close behind at AIR 66 was Harshul Garg, 17, of Patel Public School, Rajpura, who also prepared at Allen Chandigarh and resides in the city. His father Dr Varun Garg works with Ayushman Bharat and his mother Dr Ruchi Garg has run her own dental clinic for 18 years; his younger brother Vihaan is in Class 10. Harshul scored 715 in the original NEET-UG before the exam was cancelled, and 695 in the re-test, a dip he took in his stride, saying only faith kept him steady through the two months of uncertainty that followed. He said he revised each topic the same day it was taught, and hopes to become “a good doctor to serve the needy”.
{{/usCountry}}Rounding off the tricity’s top scorers was Samarth Saini, 18, a resident of Sector 32, who secured AIR 70 with 695 marks. The son of Dr Shiv Sajan Saini and Dr Vidushi Mahajan, and a student of Bhavan Vidyalaya, Sector 27-B, Saini said discipline in the final stretch made the difference. He took to question-solving through the mornings and theory review in the afternoons and evenings. He said he had struggled with distraction from social media earlier during his preparation, and credited his parents’ support in helping him regain consistency.