"Ridiculous response": Congress MP Manickam Tagore slams NTA DG over "no paper leak" remarks

New Delhi [India], May 22 (ANI): Congress MP Manickam Tagore on Friday slammed National Testing Agency (NTA) Director General Abhishek Singh over his response to the NEET-UG 2026 controversy, demanding both his and Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan's dismissal.
Tagore alleged a BJP-linked "cartel" is shielding those involved, claiming that a fair investigation into the NTA row would expose numerous ruling party faces.

Speaking to ANI, Tagore said, "This is a ridiculous response from the NTA chief. And we all know that he should have been sacked by now. The Education Minister, Dharmendra Pradhan, should have been sacked. But Prime Minister Modi will never do that because this is a cartel, and the BJP will never do it. It works for the BJP people, BJP leaders are involved in it... If a fair investigation is conducted, many BJP faces will be found involved in it."
His remarks come amid ongoing political debate over the NEET-UG 2026 examination, after NTA officials informed the Parliamentary Standing Committee that the paper was not leaked in full and that only certain questions had surfaced prior to the exam, as per the sources.
According to sources, NTA DG Abhishek Singh and Higher Education Secretary Vineet Joshi told the committee that several reforms recommended for strengthening the examination system had already been implemented, while work on the remaining measures was ongoing.
Officials maintained that the alleged leak did not originate from the NTA system and said the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is probing the circulation of leaked questions that led to the cancellation of the examination, as per the sources.
They also defended the cancellation under the agency's "zero-tolerance" policy, stating that even limited compromise of questions could undermine public trust in competitive examinations.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee also reviewed measures being taken to prevent similar incidents in the future and discussed proposals to shift NEET-UG to a computer-based testing format from next year.
Political tensions continue over the NEET-UG 2026 controversy, which led to the cancellation of the examination held on May 3 across 551 cities in India and 14 international centres, with over 22 lakh candidates appearing.
The re-examination is scheduled for June 21 under enhanced security measures mandated by the Union Education Ministry. (ANI)