Jharkhand Exam Paper Leak Row: Congress, BJP, TDP, AAP & Shantanu Clash Over Student Protests
Thousands of Jharkhand aspirants are holding an indefinite sit-in at Ranchi’s Jaipal Singh Munda Stadium over alleged paper leaks, OMR tampering and recruitment scams in JPSC and JSSC exams. They are demanding cancellation of the 14th JPSC prelims, a CBI/ED probe into exam irregularities since 2019, and the resignation of Chief Minister Hemant Soren. Student leaders have launched hunger strikes and a “Constitution March”, calling this Jharkhand’s Gen Z moment against exam mafia and broken recruitment systems.
On the show, Congress leader Ratnakar Tripathi is confronted for calling Delhi’s CJP protesters “perverts” and now branding Jharkhand’s peaceful students as “BJP plants”, even as they sit with the Constitution and sing the national anthem. Arnab questions why Congress abuses students when protests hit a Congress–JMM government but demanded ministerial resignations over NEET in Delhi.
Adv Nalin Kohli (BJP) points out that both Jharkhand and Karnataka, where Congress is in power or a key ally, have seen serious exam irregularity allegations, commissions’ chairpersons removed, and nine major Jharkhand exams suspended — yet Rahul Gandhi and Congress leadership are silent on their own states while claiming to lead an anti-paper-leak crusade nationally.
Irfan Ansari (Jharkhand Health Minister, Congress) insists the government “acted first”, citing CID raids, mass arrests in the excise constable exam leak, and the JPSC chairman’s resignation, but denies “massive wrongdoings” and resists calls for political accountability. Shantanu Gupta highlights the hypocrisy: Congress and CJP demanded Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation after NEET, but now refuse to apply the same “minister must resign on leak” rule to their own governments in Jharkhand and Rajasthan.
Pattabhi Ram Kommareddy (TDP) and Chirag Sethi (AAP) are pressed on whether opposition parties truly stand with students everywhere — Punjab, Jharkhand, UP, MP — or only when leaks can be weaponised against the BJP. The debate exposes a core question: is India’s exam-leak politics about students’ future, or about partisan convenience when the scam hits your own state?