Thiruvananthapuram (Keralam) [India], June 2 (ANI): Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday launched a strong attack on the government over alleged irregularities in national-level examinations, particularly the NEET-UG paper leak controversy, calling the repeated lapses “a betrayal of an entire generation.”
Speaking to ANI, Tharoor said, “If you run a process where the integrity of the examinations cannot be trusted, where you are in a situation where, tragically, people who have spent so much effort in preparing suddenly find that there are leaks, there is corruption, there is dishonesty, and that the entire process is vitiated, sometimes exams are cancelled, and they have to start all over again,” Tharoor said.
He questioned the credibility of India’s examination system compared to global standards. “The world is full of competitive examinations that are conducted fairly, whether it’s the SAT, the Cambridge exams or the ISC or whatever,” he said.
“Why is it that it’s only something that our government administers that is constantly being messed up? Why is the government in a situation where it is not able to guarantee the fairness and integrity of such a simple process as a national examination?” he asked.
Tharoor further held the Centre responsible for the recurring crises. “It is honestly a deficiency of the government, and the government should be responsible and take action to fix the problem. Otherwise, it’s a betrayal of an entire generation. We can only blame the government,” he said.
“The government, the ministry, the NTA, all the people responsible for a situation where what is conducted in every other country in the world in India, somehow is done with this shameless leaking and incompetence. I think the government, which is headed by Prime Minister Modi, has an overall responsibility. This must never happen again. This is not the first time, but it must be the last time,” he further added.
The remarks come amid ongoing controversy surrounding NEET-UG 2026, which has been rescheduled for June 21 following allegations of paper leaks and administrative lapses. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) continues its probe and has made multiple arrests, while protests by student groups have intensified in several parts of the country.
Furthermore, reacting to the ongoing political debate over the rendition of “Vande Mataram” in Keralam Assembly proceedings, Tharoor backed the state government’s position and questioned the Centre’s approach.
“In Kerala, the government feels that since this is only a guideline from the central government, they’re not going to follow it because it’s not that convenient, and not everyone is familiar,” he said.
“In fact, the majority of people are not familiar with all five verses, and people are standing awkwardly. It’s a very long thing. It’s five times the length of the national anthem,” Tharoor added.
He said the practice of using only the opening portion was historically consistent. “The original scenario, which we’ve been following since the days of our freedom struggle, is to sing the first verses of Vande Mataram. We all respect the national song,” he said.
Criticising the push for full rendition, he said, “But this additional imposition of the full thing is awkward at various levels. We all understand the BJP has a political agenda behind this choice.”
He further challenged political opponents, saying, “But I challenge any BJP leader to come and sing all five verses before us. This is a certain amount of political hypocrisy also involved. So I respect this Chief Minister’s decision.”
The controversy erupted after the Kerala Legislative Assembly, for the first time, began proceedings with “Vande Mataram,” with only the opening portion played in instrumental form by the police band. The move drew criticism from Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar, while Chief Minister VD Satheesan maintained that a full rendition is not mandatory.
Furthermore, Tharoor also commented on the appointment of former Kerala Chief Electoral Officer Rathan U Kelkar as Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, saying there was no controversy in the move.
“Here we’re talking about an officer who had no controversies in the conduct of the elections. Finally, one political party objected to his conduct. And then secondly, he’s been appointed by the CM as his Principal Secretary. He is not the Chief Secretary of Kerala. So there is no comparison, and there is no controversy,” he said.
On the Rafale deal, he criticised the government’s handling of the fighter jet procurement process.
“When our original deal was scrapped by this government, we pointed out that our need was for a much larger number of aircraft. They took only a handful of Rafales, and they ended up paying more,” he said.
“Now, if they had stuck to the original deal, the country would have saved some money,” he added. (ANI)
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