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MMRDA exam row: Abhijeet Dipke seeks judicial probe

Dipke’s demand comes a day after MMRDA formed a three-member committee to independently examine complaints and objections to the provisional merit list

Published on: Aug 22, 2026, 08:09:00 IST
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Mumbai: Thirteen of the 16 candidates who topped the MMRDA recruitment examination appeared from the same examination centre in Nagpur, a concentration that CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke said raised questions over the fairness of the recruitment process. Dipke on Friday demanded a judicial probe into the alleged irregularities.

New Delhi, India – July 24, 2026: Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke addresses the media and supporters at Jantar Mantar ahead of a meeting with Union government representatives later in the afternoon, in New Delhi, India, on Friday, July 24, 2026. The meeting was scheduled to discuss the party's demands related to the NEET paper leak controversy. (Photo by Vipin Kumar/Hindustan Times) (Hindustan Times)
New Delhi, India – July 24, 2026: Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke addresses the media and supporters at Jantar Mantar ahead of a meeting with Union government representatives later in the afternoon, in New Delhi, India, on Friday, July 24, 2026. The meeting was scheduled to discuss the party's demands related to the NEET paper leak controversy. (Photo by Vipin Kumar/Hindustan Times) (Hindustan Times)

Dipke’s demand comes a day after MMRDA formed a three-member committee to independently examine complaints and objections to the provisional merit list.

Aspirants who appeared for the MMRDA junior engineer recruitment examination met Dipke at his residence in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar on Friday and sought his support. Following the meeting, the CJP founder demanded the probe.

Questioning the MMRDA results, Dipke cited the performance of some toppers in other recruitment examinations.

“A topper in the MMRDA examination had scored only 7.5 marks out of 100 in the BMC examination and 80 marks out of 200 in the CIDCO examination. Another topper had scored only 16 marks out of 100 in the BMC examination and eight marks out of 200 in the CIDCO examination. There is a clear pattern that shows how certain individuals were favoured in the MMRDA examination,” Dipke alleged.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) conducted the MMRDA recruitment examination between May 11 and 12 across centres in eight districts of Maharashtra.

MMRDA, however, denied the allegations and maintained that its recruitment process had followed the rules and procedures prescribed by the Maharashtra government.

An aspirant said candidates were repeatedly forced to protest over delays in recruitment examinations and results.

“In some cases, we have to wait 12 to 13 months for the results. For the Pune Municipal Corporation’s 2022-23 recruitment examination, the exams were finally conducted in early 2026, and allegations of corruption have now emerged. Students are once again protesting outside the PMC office,” she said.

The PMC junior engineer examination, conducted in April 2026, has also faced allegations of paper leaks, duplicate candidate entries and discrepancies in results, leading to protests by candidates.

 
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Faisal Malik

Faisal Malik is a senior journalist with over two and a half decades of experience covering Maharashtra’s politics, governance and public policy with a deep understanding of the state’s political landscape. He is a Senior Assistant Editor at Hindustan Times and has been associated with its Mumbai edition for more than a decade. Based in Mumbai, Faisal currently covers three major political parties in Maharashtra — Congress, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and NCP (Sharad Pawar). Over the years, he has extensively reported on major political developments, combining investigative insights with in-depth field reporting. His coverage has spanned a wide range of issues, from drought, farmer suicides, major development projects and grassroots challenges to major electoral battles, including three Lok Sabha and Maharashtra Assembly elections — 2014, 2019 and 2024. Before joining Hindustan Times, he worked with ‘The Asian Age’ and ‘Dainik Bhaskar’. An avid tea enthusiast, he enjoys reading history, Urdu literature and classical poetry. When away from the newsroom, he writes Urdu poetry inspired by human emotions, life's experiences, meaningful reflections and relationships. An amateur photographer, Faisal is passionate about capturing moments that often go unnoticed by the naked eye.

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