Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday said the Centre was forced to accept the demands of students protesting over the NEET paper leak issue, claiming the government "bowed down" after widespread agitation. He also criticised the police action against protesters and accused the government of undermining students' rights.
Speaking during the Lok Sabha debate on the Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026, Yadav referred to the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan as education minister and said the government had yielded to public pressure.
"Jab sarkar dar jati hai, ghabra jati hai, to sweekar kar leti hai…Sarkar jhuki aur sweekar kiya (When the government gets rattled, it accepts... the government bowed down and accepted the demands)," he said.
Yadav said he hoped the government would honour the commitments made to the protesting students.
He described the agitation as the first student movement to receive active support from parents.
"This was the first such agitation which was supported by parents."
The SP chief also alleged excessive use of force against students during the protests.
Participating in the debate, Yadav said police used "lathis with spikes and electric batons" against demonstrators and claimed the "injustice was akin to the Emergency period".
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He further alleged that the government had deprived Dalits and backward classes of their rights in recruitment and claimed examination malpractices had taken place in Uttar Pradesh.
"The government has snatched rights of Dalits and backward classes in recruitments," he said.
Yadav also criticised the government for "outsourcing" the National Testing Agency (NTA), saying the opposition feared that "the entire government could be outsourced just like NTA."
The Lok Sabha on Tuesday took up discussion on the Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026, ending a week-long deadlock. The Bill, introduced on Monday, proposes stricter punishment for paper leaks, including up to 10 years' imprisonment and a fine of up to Rs 50 lakh.
