HighLights
  1. Punjab Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains is under pressure to resign due to alleged exam paper leaks.
  2. Bains met students who cleared NEET and JEE Main, calling their success his biggest achievement and promising to support their education.
  3. Opposition parties accuse the AAP government of leaks, but Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann denies any paper leaks, calling the allegations “fake news.”

Days after Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan stepped down following weeks of protests over alleged examination irregularities and paper leaks, Punjab Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains has found himself at the centre of a similar political storm. Opposition parties have accused the AAP government of failing to prevent alleged paper leaks in the state and have demanded Bains' resignation.

Amid the controversy, Bains on Monday met students from his constituency who cleared the 2026 NEET and JEE Main examinations, describing their success as his “biggest achievement”.

The meeting comes as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) continue to target the Punjab government over alleged paper leaks, drawing parallels with Pradhan's resignation at the Centre.

In a video shared by the Aam Aadmi Party's Punjab unit and Bains on X, the minister is seen interacting with five government school students who qualified JEE Main and eight students who cleared NEET from the Anandpur Sahib-Nangal region.

Sharing the video, Bains wrote, “More than the bridges, more than the canal water reaching fields, more than any other development work — the biggest achievement for me in my constituency is this.”

He also announced that he would “personally take responsibility for all their educational expenses”, adding that the students belong to “ordinary families in our villages”.

“It is very easy to criticise the work that has been done, but it is much more difficult to actually accomplish it. Thanks to excellent educational facilities, children from ordinary families are working hard and moving ahead. These students are our real medals,” he said, adding that the aim was to “set an even bigger record” next year.

Speaking to reporters, Bains reiterated that it was “easy to criticise” the work done by the AAP government but “difficult to accomplish”.

Opposition demands Bains' resignation

The BJP and other opposition parties have alleged that multiple examination paper leaks have taken place in Punjab under the AAP government and have demanded Bains' resignation.

Referring to Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation, BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said the Union minister had demonstrated accountability and questioned why the AAP leadership had not acted similarly.

“Dharmendra Pradhan has already resigned. He demonstrated the highest standards of accountability and morality,” Poonawalla said.

“Manish Sisodia and Arvind Kejriwal, who had said that if there was a paper leak at their end, they would resign; today 6 to 7 paper leaks have occurred in Punjab,” he alleged.

ALSO READ: 'Not One In Past 4.5 Years': CM Bhagwant Mann Refutes Paper Leak Allegations Amid Opposition Uproar

BJP leader Ravneet Singh Bittu also demanded the minister's resignation, telling ANI, “They have leaked and sold papers… The Punjab Education Minister should resign....”

The Shiromani Akali Dal alleged that six examination paper leaks including the Punjab Teacher Eligibility Test (PTET), the Class 12 English examination, and the Pharmacy Officer recruitment test had affected lakhs of students and job aspirants across the state.

ALSO READ: 'I Am Street Fighter': Dharmendra Pradhan's Defiant Reply To Jairam Ramesh's 'It Happens' Remark On Resignation

Bhagwant Mann rejects allegations

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann dismissed the opposition's claims, maintaining that there had not been “a single paper leak” in the state during the AAP government's tenure.

Calling the allegations as “fake news”, Mann acknowledged that cheating attempts were reported at two examination centres but insisted no examination paper had been leaked.

“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...”


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