Chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday launched a blistering attack on the BJP-led Narendra Modi government over repeated paper leaks, alleging that the Union government had shattered the aspirations of crores of students while those seeking justice were met with tear gas shells, pellet guns and police action instead of accountability.
Mann was speaking in the Punjab assembly on the opening day of the monsoon session while replying to a debate on the condemnation resolution against the alleged paper leaks in the country moved by finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema.
The assembly unanimously passed the resolution against the Narendra Modi government. Congress and BJP MLAs were absent from the House when it was adopted.
The resolution reads, “The House expresses grave concern over the repeated failures of the public examination and recruitment system under the BJP-led Union government and various BJP-governed states, marked by recurring paper leaks, examination fraud, recruitment irregularities, and administrative failures that have compromised meritocracy and jeopardised the future of millions of young aspirants.”
Over the past decade, more than 70 examination scandals, including paper leaks, digital remote-access hacks, and recruitment scams under the BJP regime, have severely eroded public confidence in transparent and fair recruitment, it said.
“At the same time, peaceful protests by students seeking accountability have been met with excessive police action, arbitrary detentions, criminal proceedings, and the use of force, raising serious concerns regarding the protection of democratic rights,” it added.
{{/usCountry}}“At the same time, peaceful protests by students seeking accountability have been met with excessive police action, arbitrary detentions, criminal proceedings, and the use of force, raising serious concerns regarding the protection of democratic rights,” it added.
{{/usCountry}}Mann said the Punjab government would forward the resolution to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), the Union ministry of education and the Union ministry of home affairs (MHA), urging the Centre to take stringent measures to prevent paper leaks and restore the credibility of the country’s education system.
The resolution further condemned the “arbitrary detention” of renowned environmentalist and education reformer Sonam Wangchuk.
Claiming that no paper leak had taken place during the AAP government’s four-and-a-half years in office, Mann alleged, “From 2014, ever since the BJP regime assumed charge of office, 93 paper leaks have taken place in the country, including 65 cases between 2019 and 2024.”
“Gen Zs faced atrocities, and forced the Prime Minister to take the resignation of Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan,” Mann said.
Earlier, noisy scenes unfolded in the House as opposition led by Congress MLAs, who were wearing black scarves, raised the issue of alleged multiple paper leaks in the state and sought the resignation of education minister Harjot Singh Bains and health minister Balbir Singh.
During question hour, Leader of the Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa alleged that six exam paper leak incidents occurred during the AAP regime — five linked to the education department and one to the health department.
“Harjot Bains had recently visited protestors in New Delhi against the NEET examination paper leak. Now it is his moral duty to step down, taking responsibility for the loss caused to the aspirants who took the state-level examination papers that were leaked,” Bajwa said.
Referring to the recent cheating racket unearthed during the pharmacy officer recruitment examination, Bajwa also sought the resignation of health minister Balbir Singh.
Raising slogans against the government’s failure, Congress MLAs entered the well of the House.
Treasury benches, led by finance minister Cheema, hit back, accusing the Congress legislators of staging political drama. Cheema said the AAP government provided around 70,000 jobs on merit during its four-and-a-half-year tenure.
Amid sloganeering by both sides, Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan adjourned the House briefly. After the protest, the Opposition staged a walkout and did not return for the day’s proceedings.
BJP’s Ashwani Sharma and suspended Congress MLA Sandeep Jakhar also asked the government to take the onus for the paper leaks in the state.
Responding to the allegations, Bains said he was ready to answer every charge after the question hour. He dared the Congress MLAs not to leave the House.
Cong rattled: CM
Expressing disappointment over the conduct of the Congress during the debate, Mann said almost every member of the House supported the censure motion, but Congress chose to boycott it.
“It is unfortunate that when students across the country are fighting for their future, the Congress did not stand with them,” he said, adding, “This is a glimpse of 2027. Instead of participating in a debate on such an important issue, they boycotted the proceedings. On one hand, their leaders protest outside the Prime Minister’s residence on education-related issues, and on the other, they walk out of the House when they are given an opportunity to debate the same issue.”
Taking a swipe at the Congress’ internal discord, Mann said the party is not focused on state issues ahead of the 2027 assembly elections.
“Congress is rattled. Their infighting is not ending. They are not talking about any issues related to Punjab. They are only saying, “Go back, Mr Baghel”. People will bring back the Aam Aadmi Party with a huge mandate in 2027,” Mann said.