Rahul Gandhi called the Public Examinations Bill a ‘not even band-aid,’ saying the education system needs ‘surgery.’ He accused the govt of not addressing the root cause of paper leaks and demanded the removal of RSS-appointed VCs.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday launched an attack on the Centre over the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, calling it a “not even band-aid” when the education system needs “surgery”.
Addressing a press conference in Indira Bhawan in the national capital, Rahul Gandhi, who is Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, alleged that the government was not addressing the root cause of paper leaks.
The Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026 was passed in the Lok Sabha after a long debate and sharp exchanges. BJP members objected to Rahul Gandhi’s remarks during his speech.
‘Bill not worth discussing’
Answering an ANI query on the bill passed during his press conference, Rahul Gandhi said the Bill is not worth discussing.
“What are the students saying? The students are saying that the education system does not work, our papers are leaked, and we go through extreme pain and difficulties. It is too expensive. And what is the government’s response? We will increase the punishment from one year to ten years. What difference does it make?” he asked.
“You do not punish anyone anyway. Nobody has been convicted; there has been no conviction till date. And you are saying that we will increase the punishment from one year to ten years. You are also saying that we will increase the punishment because we expect that there will be paper leaks. That is what the Bill is saying. The bill is saying that we accept paper leaks. And we will punish those people who do paper leaks. We are saying no, we don’t accept paper leaks,” he added.
He called for change in the system so that there are no paper leaks. “Remove the RSS from the infrastructure of education. Remove the VCs (Vice-Chancellors) who have been appointed by the RSS. So the bill is a band-aid. Not even a band-aid, when you need surgery. And the bill has been put in place so that the RSS can escape. That is the whole idea,” he said.
‘PM’s image is gone…field is open for us’
Congress MP also took digs at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said his “image is gone…field is open for us”.
“Prime Minister thinks that just because he puts a phone in front of his face, he suddenly becomes someone who is able to communicate with Gen Z. No. The problem is your image. The problem is what you have done to these students. The problem is how you have destroyed their future. The problem is what you have done to the economy. That’s the problem. And that image is gone,” the Congress leader said.
“So, the field is open for us. And I really thank the students. I’m very proud of them. And I don’t like saying this, but they had the courage that their parents did not have,” he added.
‘Amit Shah either ordered it or is incompetent’
Rahul Gandhi repeated his allegations against Union Home Minister Amit Shah that he made outside the Parliament.
“Here is the question: this gentleman over here (pointing to Home Minister Amit Shah’s picture), as I understand it, is the Home Minister of India, and any action taken by police forces or forces associated with the Home Ministry requires his order. So, when we were at Parliament House, I saw with my own eyes Amit Shah calling police officers, the Home Minister ji, on the phone. I saw it with my own eyes. I saw (MoS) Jitendra Singh, the Minister, getting call after call from Mr Amit Shah. So, he was pretty clear and aware of what was going on on the street,” Rahul Gandhi said.
“Now there are two possibilities. Possibility number one is that he gave the order to shoot people with pellet guns, beat people with lathis with nails, and use electric batons on people. Or he did not know it was happening. If he did not know it was happening, he is incompetent. And if he ordered it, he is culpable. He (Amit Shah) either ordered it, or he has no idea what’s going on in his ministry and is incompetent. In either case, he has to go. And every single child who has been beaten must know this,” he added.
‘Accountability is going to come’
Rahul Gandhi said students who faced police action will get jutice and there will be accountability.
“…we will ensure that the students who were beaten, maybe not today, maybe sometime from now, but we will ensure that every single one of those students who was beaten gets justice. We will ensure that the people who shot our students with pellet guns will be punished. It’s very simple for us to do. We have the photographs. We’ve collected all the videos and all the photographs. We know the police officers who have done it. So, you might think you’re very smart, but accountability is going to come. This is our guarantee. This is our (opposition)’s guarantee to the students,” the Congress MP said. (ANI)
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