UP BJP Chief Meets Students Amid Protests Over Exam Paper Leaks

A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced fast-track courts and a stringent new law to punish those involved in exam paper leaks, Union Minister and Uttar Pradesh BJP chief Pankaj Chaudhary on Friday met a group of students who cleared the NEET exam, along with their parents, in Lucknow. Chaudhary assured them that the Modi government’s top priority was students and that it was taking decisions in their interest.

Speaking at the event, Chaudhary said, “Students do not belong to paksh or vipaksh (ruling side or opposition).” He acknowledged that “paper leak is a problem” and claimed that while dozens of papers were leaked in past governments, the Modi government has taken stern legal and administrative steps to make examinations leak-proof. He added that three “leak-proof” exams were conducted in the past month.

Earlier this week, on Wednesday, Chaudhary led a march in Lucknow from a VVIP guest house to the Congress office to protest against Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi’s sit-in outside the Prime Minister’s residence in Delhi. According to a party leader, that march was intended to boost the morale of party workers who were facing questions from the public after student protests over paper leaks and the July 20 police action against protesters in Delhi.

Sources within the BJP indicated that Chaudhary’s meeting with students reflected “uneasiness and apprehensions” within the party and the state government over the protests and their potential fallout in the state assembly elections scheduled for early 2027. Party insiders said Chaudhary sought to counter the “adverse perception” created by videos of Delhi police using lathi-charge on protesting students during a march on Parliament on July 20, which went viral on social media.

“Genuine students might be small in numbers in the protesting crowd, but police action with canes and tear gas shells has sent a negative message. Every family has a student or a job-aspiring youth, and the delay in government response and the lathi-charge have upset many families,” a BJP leader said.

Another senior BJP leader noted that after the Prime Minister’s midnight video proposing a stringent new law against paper leaks, Chaudhary’s meeting with medical aspirants indicates that the UP BJP is concerned about the leaks and youth protests. However, he added that it would be premature to assess the impact on upcoming elections in five states, including Uttar Pradesh, in 2027.

BJP sources said the state party leadership is especially concerned because “youth distress caused by leaks in various exams, mainly recruitment exams,” was one of the key reasons identified for the party’s sub-par performance in Uttar Pradesh in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The BJP’s seat tally in the state fell from 62 to 33 out of 80 seats, and its vote share declined from 49.98% to 41.37%. The Samajwadi Party won 37 seats, its best-ever performance in the state in Lok Sabha polls.

A BJP functionary said that during a visit to a pharmacy in Lucknow on Thursday, a small group expressed anger over the paper leaks and the lathi-charge on students. “They were asking why the government responded so late to the demands of the youths,” he said.

Another party leader said that if Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan had resigned sooner after the NEET leak in May, taking moral responsibility, the intensity of public anger might have been lower, and the opposition would not have had an opportunity to exploit the issue.