Jharkhand Exam Scam Row: Arnab Grills Irfan Ansari, BJP’s Nalin Kohli Hits Back At Congress

Thousands of Jharkhand aspirants are staging an indefinite sit-in over alleged paper leaks, OMR tampering and recruitment scams in JPSC and JSSC exams, demanding Hemant Soren’s resignation and a CBI/ED probe. The Jaipal Singh Munda Stadium protest has become Jharkhand’s “Jantar Mantar moment”, with students saying the system has failed them and their future has been stolen.

On the show, Arnab questions Health Minister Irfan Ansari (Congress) on whether genuine students have been cheated. Ansari initially denies “massive wrongdoings”, claims Jharkhand was “the first state to act”, and points to the suspension and resignation of the JPSC chairman — even as he insists the government is “with the youth” and compares the situation to frequent leaks in other states.

Advocate Nalin Kohli, BJP national spokesperson, counters that Congress-ruled Jharkhand and Karnataka both face serious exam irregularity charges, with commission chairpersons removed and protests acknowledged in action but dismissed in rhetoric. He asks why Rahul Gandhi and Congress leadership are silent when youth anger erupts in their own states, despite leading the anti-paper-leak campaign in Delhi.

The debate centres on one big question: when lakhs of young people are camping on the streets over paper leaks and exam fraud, can a government deny wrongdoing and brand them “political plants” — or must it accept responsibility and fix the recruitment system?