The Aam Aadmi Party’s rush to support the Cockroach Janta Party and protests calling for Dharmendra Pradhan to quit as Union Education Minister may backfire before next year’s Punjab election, with the state’s education minister – Harjot Singh Bains – now in hot water.
Why? Because remarks by AAP leader Manish Sisodia at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar, the hub of CJP protests against Pradhan and the NEET exam paper leak agitation, put a target on Bains’ back.
On July 19 Sisodia was at Jantar Mantar and spoke to the press.
He declared Punjab had seen no instance of leaked exam papers in the past four years that the AAP has been in power. “If any such paper leak happens in Punjab then I, (Arvind Kejriwal), and Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann sahab together will immediately sack Punjab’s education minister… not a single paper has leaked in Punjab in the past four years.”
Unsurprisingly, opposition parties pounced. Flagging various cases of alleged paper leaks and irregularities under the AAP government, including a recent instance in pharmacy officers’ recruitment tests, they have now demanded Bains also resign.
Pradhan was forced to resign five days after Sisodia’s remark. And now opposition parties in Punjab have intensified their campaign against Bains.
Exam rows
Notwithstanding claims made by Mann, Bains, and Sisodia – that ‘not a single paper leak has happened in Punjab in the last four-and-half years of the AAP government’ – there have been various cases of alleged exam malpractices during this period.
Punjab Police recently busted a ‘cheating racket’ in the pharmacy officers’ recruitment exam that was organised by Baba Farid University of Health Sciences in Faridkot on July 19. Some candidates allegedly carried a pen camera inside the exam hall to photograph the question paper. The images were sent via WhatsApp to the accused outside, who allegedly sent back their answers to some candidates through wireless communication. The payment – ranging from Rs 3.5 lakh to Rs 13 lakh bribe, the police said.
Also, in February 2023, the state’s Class 12 English board exam was cancelled after the paper was allegedly leaked minutes before its start. The exam was rescheduled and Bains ordered a ‘high-level inquiry’.
In March 2023, the Punjab State Teachers Eligibility Test (PSTET)’s paper-2 exam was cancelled after answers for at least 50 multiple-choice questions were found highlighted in bold in the question paper. The exam was held again and two Guru Nanak Dev University professors were suspended.
In June 2024, the Agriculture Development Officers (ADOs) recruitment exam in the state was embroiled in an alleged leak controversy, with some aspirants alleging, in a complaint to the CM’s office, that a senior official had taken Rs 32 lakh bribe to “leak” the paper. The Mann government had denied the allegations.
Major irregularities were also reported by aspirants in PPSC Naib Tehsildar exam held in May 2022 and PSSSB Group-B officers exam held in December 2025. In 2022 case, government ordered re-exam after mass cheating was confirmed by Punjab Police. In 2025 case, aspirants alleged paper leak after 22 of 100 toppers emerged from Bathinda district alone. A vigilance probe was also initiated in both exams.
Opposition on the attack
Listing several alleged paper leak cases during the AAP’s tenure, Congress MLA and ex-education minister Pargat Singh, in an X post, said: “CM Bhagwant Mann’s claim that not a single paper leak has occurred under his govt does not match the records… Over the past 4 years, Punjab has witnessed repeated controversies involving Naib tehsildar, PSTET, PSEB class 12, ADO, PSSSB Group B and now the 454 Pharmacists recruitment exam… Instead of denying the problem, the government must answer.”
Targeting the AAP government, Punjab Congress president and MP Amrinder Singh Raja Warring demanded that CM Mann should “set a timeline” for Bains’ resignation, saying “Practise in Punjab what you preach in Delhi. Your leader Arvind Kejriwal has congratulated students for forcing Pradhan to resign over paper leaks, now it is your turn to make your minister resign for precisely the same reason.” He also attacked Sisodia for “telling lies” on the issue.
On Monday, the Punjab Congress MPs led by Warring also held a protest outside Parliament against “paper leaks in Punjab”. “Six paper leaks or irregularities took place during the AAP tenure. He (CM Mann) must apologise to five lakh students and job aspirants… The minister concerned (Bains) has to resign. We won’t let this go,” Warring said.
The BJP has also gone after the Mann government on the issue, with state party chief Kewal Singh Dhillon saying, “AAP is exposing its own dishonesty by shielding ministers in paper leak and cheating scandals. Union minister Pradhan resigned on moral grounds but Punjab ministers are clinging to their chairs. Health and education ministers must resign over the Faridkot pharmacy exam scandal.”
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal stated on X: “4.5 years, 6 exam scams and 5 lakh youth left in lurch in Punjab. AAP Punjab, the buck stops at you…”
Stand of Bains, AAP
Bains has pointed out that the 2026 pharmacy exam did not come under the ambit of his office, but that of health minister Balbir Singh’s ministry.
“Firstly, it was not a paper leak, it was cheating. Those who cheated were held on the spot. In fact, Punjab should be rewarded for such swift action. Also, the matter is not of my department, but since the Cabinet has an overall responsibility, I cannot run away,” he said.
“I was the only state education minister who went to Jantar Mantar and supported students on the ground. If my resignation helps the education system, I am for it any time… But none can defame Punjab by claiming false paper leaks. It is no more Udta Punjab, it is Padhta Punjab,” Bains said in a video statement posted on Instagram.
Defending Bains, CM Mann said in Zirakpur Sunday: “In over four years of our government, not a single paper has leaked in Punjab. Recently, when an attempt to facilitate cheating in the pharmacy exam came to our notice, we acted immediately. All those involved were arrested… NEET paper leaked in 2017, 2024 and now 2026. It is a complete failure of the BJP-led Centre.”
On his part, Sisodia has blamed the Congress and the BJP for “spreading lies and rumors in Punjab” over the pharmacy exam row. “The paid trolls of both parties are spreading lies in Punjab that a paper leaked. They are terming an unsuccessful cheating attempt a paper leak. They simply don’t understand education. They should feel ashamed.”
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