HighLights
  1. BJP demands Punjab Education Minister Harjot Bains' resignation.
  2. CM Bhagwant Mann denies any paper leaks in past 4.5 years.
  3. Opposition cites multiple alleged exam irregularities in Punjab.

A day after Dharmendra Pradhan resigned as Union Education Minister following a month-long protest by thousands of CJP protesters demanding accountability over alleged exam irregularities and paper leaks, the BJP has launched a fresh attack on the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) over alleged paper leaks in Punjab.

The Bharatiya Janata Party has demanded the resignation of Punjab Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains, while Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has categorically denied that any paper leak occurred during his tenure.

"When is the education minister of Punjab resigning? When will Arvind Kejriwal ask for resignation of Punjab's education minister for morality," BJP spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari asked.

Bhandari alleged that paper leaks had occurred in the Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) Class 12 English Board examination, the Punjab State Teacher Eligibility Test (PSTET), and the Agriculture Development Officer (ADO) examination. He also claimed there were irregularities in the Punjab Subordinate Services Selection Board (PSSSB) Group-B and Combined recruitment processes.

He further alleged large-scale cheating in the Naib Tehsildar and Pharmacy Officer recruitment examinations and claimed that fake names had surfaced in the Excise and Taxation Inspector merit list.

Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring also targeted the AAP government, alleging that six major paper leaks had taken place in the state over the past four years.

"When will Punjab Education Minister Harjot Bains resign? Four years. 6 major paper leaks. Countless dreams shattered. Yet no accountability. Punjab's students deserve answers. They deserve accountability. They deserve a better future," he alleged.

'No Paper Leaks, My Guarantee'

Rejecting the allegations, the AAP termed them "fake news." Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann asserted that not a single paper leak had taken place in Punjab during the last four and a half years, although he acknowledged that cheating attempts had been reported at two examination centres.

"There is no single paper leak in Punjab in the past 4.5 years. I assure you that there will be no paper leaks in Punjab. This is my guarantee. We got cheating reports from two places, but no single paper leak happened in Punjab. We acted on cheating incidents within 10 mins only. We acted against cheating gangs," he said.

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BJP Steps Up Attack

Delhi Cabinet Minister and BJP National Secretary Manjinder Singh Sirsa also accused the AAP of adopting "double standards" on the issue of paper leaks and questioned why the party was not seeking the resignation of Punjab Education Minister Harjot Bains.

"The Aam Aadmi Party, which does politics by placing guns on the shoulders of innocent children, is being questioned by the entire country today--when will Punjab's Education Minister resign? Just yesterday, Manish Sisodia ji was roaring false cries in the name of morality, but today he is sitting silently on Punjab's leak system. Why exactly?," he asked in a post on X.

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Sirsa said AAP leader Manish Sisodia had earlier argued that any minister under whose watch a paper leak occurred should resign, and questioned why the party was not following the same standard in Punjab.

The political slugfest comes a day after Dharmendra Pradhan stepped down as Union Education Minister following a month-long protest in the national capital over the alleged NEET paper leak and examination irregularities.

Union Minister Pralhad Joshi has been given additional charge of the Ministry of Education.


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