Bhubaneswar, June 10 (IANS) The National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) on Wednesday organised a massive protest rally in Sambalpur, the Lok Sabha constituency of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, demanding his resignation over the NEET-UG paper leak and alleged irregularities in CBSE examination evaluation.

NSUI National In-charge Kanhaiya Kumar, National President Vinod Jakhar, Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) President Bhakta Charan Das, Rajgangpur MLA C.S. Raazen Ekka, along with hundreds of NSUI workers and Congress leaders, joined the protest rally (Maha Akrosh Samavesh).

The NSUI members escorted the leaders from Ainthapali Chowk to the meeting venue in a decorated open jeep, accompanied by a large bike rally.

Addressing the gathering, Kumar strongly criticised Union Minister Pradhan over repeated examination-related controversies.

“More than 80 examination papers have been leaked in the last 12 years. During Dharmendra Pradhan’s tenure, the NEET question paper has been leaked twice. Therefore, Dharmendra Pradhan should come before the people and accept responsibility for these failures. Save your state and Sambalpur from this embarrassment,” Kumar said.

Calling Union Minister Pradhan “Leak Pradhan”, Kumar stated that if the minister had even a little sense of shame, he should admit that he was incapable of running the Education Ministry and resign. Responding to allegations that he was anti-national, Kumar claimed that those playing with the future of students and the country were the real traitors.

Kumar said the future of lakhs of students was being affected due to repeated incidents of paper leaks and irregularities in examinations. He also questioned the Centre’s handling of the issue and said the Students’ Congress would continue its protest from the streets to Parliament until action was taken. He further alleged that the government was trying to suppress the voices of students and opposition parties.

Addressing the rally, OPCC President Das accused the BJP government of failing to protect students’ interests. He said repeated incidents of question paper leaks and evaluation errors had raised serious concerns among students and parents across the country. Das said the Congress would continue its democratic and peaceful protest until the concerns of students were addressed.

He also alleged that all constitutional institutions in the country were systematically being weakened by the BJP-led Union government.

–IANS

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