Jaipur: While addressing a rally in Rajasthan’s coaching hub of Kota on November 21, 2023, prime minister Narendra Modi was unsparing towards the then chief minister Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government in the state as he slammed it over instances of question paper leaks in the state – one of the main election pitches of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2023 Rajasthan assembly elections.“Congress party has destroyed the dreams of the youth repeatedly in the last five years. Congress sold papers for all exams. I want to assure you the one involved in the paper leak, will be sent behind bars. This is the guarantee of Modi,” Modi had said in the rally, held just days before the assembly elections in Rajasthan, which the BJP had subsequently won.At the time, the BJP’s official X handle was prompt to relay the “guarantee” of Modi that if the BJP came to power in the state, those involved in paper leaks would not be spared.कांग्रेस का पेपर लीक माफिया युवाओं के सपनों पर भारी पड़ गया।इसलिए राजस्थान बेरोजगारी के मामले में देश में अग्रणी है।लेकिन मैं आपको विश्वास दिलाता हूं कि परीक्षा के पेपर लूटकर जिसने भी अपने लॉकर भरे हैं, उसका लॉकर टूटेगा और वो लॉकअप में जाएगा।ये भी मोदी की गारंटी है।– पीएम… pic.twitter.com/6UG2SGcpch— BJP (@BJP4India) November 21, 2023On July 25, 2026 – in less than three years since Modi made the speech in Kota – the BJP-led Union government suffered a massive setback, as Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan tendered his resignation over the sustained youth protests and furore over the 2026 NEET question paper leak.Pradhan’s resignation for failing to prevent question paper leaks, and the BJP’s own record of trying to corner opposition parties over the issue of question paper leaks now stand out as an irony for which the saffron party paid a heavy price.2023: Modi slams Congress in Sikar rally over question paper leaks; 2026: NEET leak discovered in same cityThe 2026 NEET question paper leak was first discovered in BJP-ruled Rajasthan’s Sikar – another city that is a coaching hub like Kota.This discovery was followed by a police investigation which was later taken over by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the cancellation and subsequent retest of India’s main medical entrance examination, student suicides and massive protests across the country by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) and the opposition, finally leading to Pradhan’s resignation.The irony is not lost here that the NEET question paper leak was discovered in Sikar, of all places.Speaking at a rally in Sikar on July 27, 2023, PM Modi had slammed the Congress over the repeated question paper leaks in the state.“But what is happening in Rajasthan? Youth’s future is being played with in Rajasthan. A paper leak industry is being run in the state. The youth of the state are capable but the government here is ruining their future,” Modi had said at Sikar, as reported by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) mouthpiece Organiser.The resignation of Pradhan – the first such instance in the BJP regime’s 12-year record wherein a Union minister had to resign after the government buckled under sustained public pressure – shows how the issue of question paper leaks, which has been routinely used by the BJP to attack the Congress and other opposition parties, came back to haunt the saffron party this time.During its time in the opposition – between 2019 and 2023 – the biggest issue raised by the Rajasthan BJP was question paper leaks, especially after it was revealed that the question paper of the Rajasthan Eligibility Examination for Teachers (REET) held in 2021 was leaked.At the time, the REET question paper leak and the cancellation of the examination had given major political fodder to the BJP to attack the Gehlot government. The saffron party had held massive protests across the state and had said that a “double engine BJP government” was required in Rajasthan to prevent question paper leaks.As a result of the furore over question paper leaks, the then Congress government in 2022 had passed the Rajasthan Public Examination (Measures for Prevention of Unfair Means in Recruitment) Act. Later, in 2023, the government had amended the law to include the provision of life imprisonment as the maximum punishment.This law brought by the then Gehlot government in Rajasthan predates The Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024 passed by the Union government. The Wire has reported that an amendment to this law is likely to be introduced in the Parliament wherein, after the sustained protests over question paper leaks, the maximum punishment has been increased up to 10 years of imprisonment.While the Congress government was voted out in December 2023 and the BJP came to power in the state, the NEET question paper leak incident has shown that despite a “double engine government” in place, the issue of question paper leaks has led to massive public anger against the government.A day before Pradhan tendered his resignation, Jaipur’s Patrika Gate, which was inaugurated by PM Modi in September 2020, saw a massive protest on July 24, wherein the youngsters raised slogans against the prime minister and education minister Pradhan.Despite the state police’s reminder that Patrika Gate is not a designated protest site, hundreds of youngsters gathered at the spot, holding photos of Bhagat Singh and waving the Indian flag while chanting slogans against the Union government.‘There has to be some accountability from the government’“I have not attended any protest before in my life. I have come here for my daughters. My daughter, who is 18-year-old, had to appear for NEET twice because the question paper got leaked. She prepared so hard and then the question paper got leaked. This is not fair for the students. We are demanding the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan and that there has to be some accountability from the government,” 45-year-old Sunaina Bhaskar, a homemaker who attended the protest with her two daughters, told The Wire.Another protester, Rahul Dev, 25, said that while he had voted for the BJP in earlier elections, the NEET question paper leak had left him aghast.“I want to appear in the UPSC examinations. What if that question paper is also leaked? We are demanding the education minister’s resignation because that will show that the government is answerable to us,” Dev had told The Wire on July 24.A day later, much like other cities across India, the resignation of Pradhan resulted in celebrations in Jaipur, with the BJP’s 2023 election pitch over question paper leaks this time giving a severe jolt to its government in the Centre.