The resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan following nationwide student protests has triggered a fresh political confrontation between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), with the BJP demanding accountability from the Punjab government over alleged examination paper leaks.
The BJP on Sunday called on Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to sack Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains, alleging repeated incidents of paper leaks under the AAP government.
"When is the Punjab education minister resigning? When will Arvind Kejriwal ask for the resignation of Punjab's education minister on moral grounds?" BJP spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari asked.
Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu raised similar demand, accusing the Punjab government of failing to protect the integrity of examination processes.
"They have leaked and sold papers. Even sanitation workers, who do some of the most essential work, have not been made permanent or given proper employment. The Punjab Education Minister should resign," Bittu told reporters.
Delhi Cabinet Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa also accused the AAP of adopting double standards on the paper leak issue. He alleged that the pharmacy officer examination paper was leaked after "lakhs of rupees" were paid and claimed that around 7,000 students were affected.
Sirsa further cited previous alleged paper leak cases in Punjab, including the Class 12 English examination in 2022 and a Punjab Subordinate Services Selection Board (PSSSB) recruitment examination in 2025, alleging that candidates had been forced to pay money in those cases as well.
Earlier, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) had also demanded Bains' resignation, alleging that six paper leaks—including the Punjab Teacher Eligibility Test (PTET), the Class 12 English examination and the pharmacy officer recruitment test—had impacted lakhs of aspirants across the state.
Rejecting the allegations, Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann insisted that no examination paper had been leaked since the AAP came to power.
"It has been four and a half years since our government was formed. Not a single paper has leaked in Punjab," Mann said.
The chief minister acknowledged that incidents of cheating had been reported at two examination centres but maintained that they did not amount to paper leaks. He said 21 people had been arrested in connection with the cases.
"We received reports of cheating from two places, but there was no paper leak in Punjab. We acted within 10 minutes of receiving the complaints and cracked down on the cheating gangs," he said.
The BJP's attack comes after the AAP strongly backed the student protests in Delhi over alleged irregularities in the NEET examination. Several senior AAP leaders had visited Jantar Mantar to express solidarity with the protesters and support the agitation led by the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP).
