Arvind Kejriwal sees ‘political patronage’ behind NEET paper leak
New Delhi, May 12 : Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday slammed the Central government over the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak and questioned its ‘silence and inaction’ against the examination mafia.
Speaking to newsmen in a press conference, Kejriwal claimed that the large-scale collusion at top levels and political patronage to those involved in such crimes are primarily the reasons behind the paper leak of such magnitude.
He said that the lives of lakhs of students are at stake because of the NEET paper leak, but the government is looking the other way, questioning whether it understands the scale of suffering that the children and their families go through during such times.
The NEET examinations, held on May 3, were cancelled on Tuesday by the National Testing Agency (NTA), the central body that conducts competitive exams, after incriminating inputs were received by the central agencies about irregularities in the examination process.
Kejriwal, accusing the Centre of gross failure as well as negligence, said that this was not the first time that the exam papers had been leaked.
“Similar instances of NEET paper leak took place on multiple occasions in 2017, 2021, 2024 and now in 2026. Government must tell where those people are behind the previous paper leaks,” he stated.
Doubling down his charge, he stated, “If the government can’t conduct an examination without paper leak, how can one expect them to run an efficient governance.”
The former Delhi CM also demanded strict action against those sitting in top positions and presiding over the conduct of examinations and failing utterly in conducting the examinations in all fairness.
“The future of lakhs of students is at stake. Those responsible must be held accountable and hauled up for gross incompetence,” he demanded.
Recalling his own experience of preparatory years for competitive exams like IIT and IAS, he said that the parents undergo severe hardships during these times, and this calls for strict accountability from those responsible.
Expressing his solidarity with the affected students, Kejriwal also urged the students to fight decisively against the paper leak mafia, stating, “I want to tell them that if they want to hit the streets to voice their anger and outrage, Kejriwal is standing with them.”