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Delhi University dismisses Rahul Gandhi’s caste based interview bias claim
The University strongly objected to the remarks, stating they create a disruptive environment, and urged the Leader of Opposition to verify facts before making such statements.
In a late Friday post on X, the university added that if Gandhi was referring to faculty recruitment, it has hired thousands of teachers across all categories in recent times.
Delhi University (DU) has rejected Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s claim that it uses interviews to weed out students, asserting that admissions are primarily based on CUET scores and that interviews are not mandated for most undergraduate and postgraduate programmes.
In a late Friday post on X, the university added that if Gandhi was referring to faculty recruitment, it has hired thousands of teachers across all categories in recent times. It strongly objected to the remarks, stating they create a disruptive environment, and urged the Leader of the Opposition to verify facts before making such statements.
“The University of Delhi admits students primarily based on the CUET scores, and the standard admission process does not mandate interviews for most undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. If the Leader of the Opposition was referring to recruitment (such as faculty positions), the University has, in recent years, recruited thousands of teachers across all categories. We strongly object to such comments, as they create a non-conducive environment in the University. The Leader of Opposition should have verified the facts before making such a statement,” read the University’s statement.
Following this, DU released data for admission and recruitment processes. According to the DU data for post graduate students enrolled in academic session 2025-26 based on CUET, there were a total of 4022 (38.59 per cent) unreserved (UR) students, 3115 OBC (Other Backward Classes) (29.88 per cent) students, 1488 SC (Scheduled Caste) (14.27 per cent) students, 614 ST (Scheduled Tribe) (5.89 per cent) students and 1203 EWS (11.54 per cent) (Economically Weaker Section) students. The total number of PG students enrolled was 10,422.
Data for undergraduate programmes for the academic session 2025-26 showed that 32777 (46.56 per cent) students were enrolled under the UR category, 17971 (25.52 per cent) were under OBC, 10517 (14.93 per cent) were SC students, and 3251 (4.62 per cent) and 5879 (8.35 per cent) were respectively ST and EWS students. The total number of enrolled students for UG programmes stood at 70,395.
The University also shared data for appointments of teachers (including librarian and physical education) from 2021 to March 15, 2025. In the period mentioned, according to the data, 2123 (41.99 per cent) appointments have been made under the UR category, 717 (14.18 per cent) under the SC category, 349 (6.90 per cent) under the ST category, 1282 (25.35 per cent) under OBC category, 422 (8.35 per cent) and 163 (3.22 per cent) under the EWS and PwD categories respectively. The total number of recruitments stood at 5056.
The rebuttal was in response to Gandhi’s address at a Lucknow event marking the birth anniversary of BSP founder Kanshi Ram, in which he alleged that DU expels students on the basis of caste. “Interview is just a way to eliminate students. They ask what your caste is and then you fail in the interview,” he said.
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Gandhi also targeted the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), alleging the absence of OBC, Dalit, and Adivasi representation among its senior pracharaks, calling it a direct violation of the Constitution.
The remarks have since sparked fresh controversy, with the Indian National Teachers’ Congress (INTEC) and several DU professors, including academic and executive council members, pointing to public records showing that in multiple university departments, a significant number of teaching posts advertised under SC, ST, and OBC categories saw qualified candidates declared “not found suitable” following the interview stage.
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