Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Priyanka Chaturvedi on Saturday supported Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for his remarks on the NEET-UG paper leak case, alleging that the deaths of students linked to the controversy were ‘murders committed by the system’ due to the failure to address the mental stress faced by aspirants.
Speaking to ANI, Chaturvedi said several students had died by suicide amid the controversy and blamed systemic failures for the situation.
“Actually, it’s not just one suicide; there are three such suicides that have taken place. And yes, I agree with what Rahul Gandhi is saying, because these are murders committed by the Government of India by totally disregarding the mental stress and mental agony of lakhs of students who prepare for these exams,” she said.Chaturvedi said medical entrance examinations involve immense pressure and that irregularities such as paper leaks deeply affect students.
“Please understand, a medical exam is not an easy process to clear. They spend their entire year training for it, preparing for it, and to be told after giving an exam, and after getting the answer key and realising they’ve done well, and to be told, ‘Oh, I’m sorry, your entire exam has been invalidated because there has been a paper leak because you couldn’t keep the system leak-proof’ goes to show that this is not a suicide, but someone has been compelled to take their own life because of a failure of an entire system which disregards the pain and agony of the student,” she said.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) MP further alleged the existence of a corrupt nexus behind repeated paper leak incidents and questioned accountability in the education system.
“It is extremely unfortunate, and who will pay a price for the deaths of these innocent young students who had probably dreams in their eyes and they saw their dreams crashing down because of a paper leak coming out of a nexus that exists, the corrupt nexus that exists, of the paper setters, of the NTA, of the political people who are in power and many other people who are part of this mafia? People of this country will not forget it, not forgive them, and will ensure that they will be held accountable,” she said.Reacting to the arrest of a lecturer in connection with the NEET case, Chaturvedi said the development reflected deeper corruption within the examination system.
“It speaks of the entire corrupt mechanism that continues to exist with zero accountability, zero responsibility. He was one of the paper setters, and he’s one of the persons who has leaked this paper, for what? To earn money out of it. Lakhs and thousands of futures stand to be dismissed just because you wanted to earn your money,” she said.
Calling for reforms, she said repeated incidents of paper leaks showed systemic failure.
“This actually is a reflection of the corruption that exists in the entire education system and needs an overhaul. And till we do not see accountability coming from the top, from right from the Education Minister, we are going to see such instances crop up again and again and again,” she said.She also questioned why preventive mechanisms had failed despite repeated controversies over examination leaks.
“Over several years we have seen, over seven years there have been over 50 paper leaks. In 2024, a lot of promises were made to them, and why are we talking about the CBI investigation? Why can’t we ensure prevention rather than punishment, which comes later?” she added.The remarks came after Rahul Gandhi on Friday termed the death of NEET aspirant Ritik Mishra a “murder by the system” and questioned how many more such deaths would occur before accountability is fixed.
Mishra, a 21-year-old from Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri, allegedly died by suicide on Thursday after the cancellation of the NEET-UG examination following paper leak allegations. His family said he was distressed by the development and was confident of clearing the examination on his third attempt.