NEET row: Congress demands Union Education minister's resignation, calls for NTA dissolution

New Delhi: Hundreds of Congress workers staged a protest against the alleged NEET UG 2026 paper leak and marched towards the BJP state headquarters recently, demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and dissolution of the National Testing Agency. Police stopped the protesters near Shaheed Smarak using barricades and water cannons after workers attempted to move towards the BJP office.

The protest was led by Rajasthan Congress chief and attended by senior party leaders, MLAs, women workers and youths dressed as medical students. Congress leaders alleged that repeated irregularities in NEET examinations had destroyed public trust and demanded a court-monitored probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the alleged paper leak case.

According to PTI report, carrying posters and placards, the protesters led by state Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasra demanded the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and the dissolution of the National Testing Agency (NTA).

Hundreds of Congress workers gathered at the party's state headquarters around 10 am before beginning the march towards the BJP office. Senior leaders, including Leader of Opposition Tikaram Jully, MLAs, former MLAs and former election candidates also participated in the protest.

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Police used water cannons near Shaheed Smarak after several Congress workers climbed barricades and attempted to cross over towards the BJP headquarters. During the water cannon action, party workers lifted Dotasra on their shoulders.

There was also jostling and pushing between police personnel and Congress workers as security forces tried to prevent protesters from moving ahead.

Former minister Pratap Singh Khachariyawas sat on a dharna in front of the Police Commissionerate near Shaheed Smarak during the protest.

Women Congress workers participated in large numbers and staged demonstrations by singing songs and beating dafli drums. Some youths also joined the protest dressed in the attire of medical students.

After the protest, some workers were admitted to Sawai Man Singh Hospital with minor injuries. Senior leaders including Dotasra and Jully later visited the hospital and met them.

Addressing party workers before the march, Dotasra alleged that repeated irregularities in the NEET examination had eroded public trust in the NTA.

"The NTA should be dissolved and Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan should resign," he said.

He alleged that BJP leaders were complicit in the alleged paper leak and said similar irregularities had surfaced during the 2024 and 2025 examinations as well.

"The central and state governments cannot escape responsibility because the paper leak was first exposed in Rajasthan," Dotasra said.

Raising slogans against the BJP, Congress workers shouted, "NEET paper kahan milega, BJP ke baade mein."

Dotasra also demanded strict action against those involved in the alleged leak and said the CBI probe into the matter should be monitored by the court.

Jully alleged that NEET papers had been leaking continuously for the past three years, adversely affecting lakhs of students.

He claimed that despite Rajasthan being the first state where information about the alleged leak surfaced, no FIR had been registered by the BJP-led state government.

Congress leader Abhishek Chaudhary alleged that the police were preventing youths from reaching the BJP headquarters and said the agitation would continue.

The Congress claimed that the future of nearly 22 lakh students had been affected due to the alleged leak.

The NEET (UG) 2026 examination for admission to undergraduate medical courses, held on May 3, was cancelled two days later amid allegations of paper leak.

The CBI is conducting a probe into the alleged irregularities in the examination.

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