Former Haryana Chief Minister and Leader of Opposition in the Vidhan Sabha Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Sunday launched a sharp attack on the BJP-led governments at the Centre and in Haryana, alleging that paper leaks had become a hallmark of the BJP governments’ tenure as over 152 paper leaks have occurred across the country since 2014.

“A racket involving the trading of exam papers and jobs is active across the country, including Haryana. The problem has become so severe that it has severely eroded the credibility of the examination system and shattered the confidence of lakhs of aspirants. The BJP government has utterly failed to safeguard the interests of students, hence Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan must resign,” said Hooda while addressing a news conference on Sunday.

He maintained that the Congress had been raising the issue of the NEET paper leak across the country through its ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ campaign. Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi was interacting with students to understand their concerns and highlight the injustice caused by paper leaks, he added.

Referring to the detention of social activist Sonam Wangchuk, Hooda alleged that peaceful voices were being suppressed. “In a democracy, people must be allowed to express their views. Instead of engaging in dialogue with Sonam Wangchuk and finding an amicable solution, the government chose to forcibly remove him from the protest site. This is nothing but a mockery of democracy,” he added.

Turning his attention to Haryana, Hooda alleged that the BJP government led by Nayab Saini had failed to bring any major new development project to the state during its tenure. He also claimed that law and order had deteriorated, with crime on the rise, while people continued to grapple with electricity and drinking water shortages.

Taking another swipe at the state government, the former CM remarked that the prevailing administrative situation reflected a complete lack of governance. “It is difficult to understand who is actually running the government in Haryana,” he said.