NEET UG 2026 Cancellation: Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, on Tuesday leveled severe allegations against the central government following the cancellation of the NEET-UG 2026 examination. Reacting sharply to the development, Mr. Gandhi declared that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s promised era of ‘Amrit Kaal’ has transformed into a ‘Vish Kaal’, or a poison-filled era, for the citizens of the country.
The National Testing Agency officially cancelled the undergraduate medical entrance test held on May 3, 2026, citing serious irregularities. The Union government has subsequently directed the Central Bureau of Investigation to conduct a comprehensive inquiry into the allegations surrounding the examination process.
Mr. Gandhi took to social media to express solidarity with the affected candidates. In a strongly worded post in Hindi on X, he stated that the hard work, sacrifices, and aspirations of more than 22 lakh students were destroyed by a corrupt regime. He highlighted the extreme financial and emotional toll borne by families, noting that fathers took loans and mothers sold their jewellery to support their children’s education.
The senior Congress leader argued that the systemic failure represents a direct assault on meritocracy. He questioned the value of education when destiny is seemingly determined by money and personal connections rather than diligence. He asserted that lakhs of children stayed awake through the night to study, only to be met with paper leaks, governmental negligence, and what he termed organized corruption within the education sector.
Describing the situation as a crime against the youth rather than a mere administrative failure, Mr. Gandhi pointed to a recurring pattern of injustice. He alleged that the paper mafia consistently escapes accountability while honest students are forced to bear the punishment of uncertainty and repeated examinations.
The cancellation forces lakhs of aspirants to relive a cycle of mental stress and financial burden, Mr. Gandhi stated. He warned that the repeated breaches of trust in high-stakes examinations threaten to hollow out the meaning of hard work in the country.
The decision to scrap the test came amidst active investigations by the Rajasthan Special Operations Group into allegations of a paper leak. The NTA formally announced the cancellation on Tuesday, paving the way for the CBI probe as mandated by the central authorities.
