Congress will stand by the cause of students, says Congress leader

Former Minister B. Ramanath Rai addresses a press conference at Congress Bhavan in Mangaluru on Thursday.

| Photo Credit: H.S. MANJUNATH

The Congress will stand by students affected by the NEET-UG paper leak. The party is not seeking to exploit the issue or create chaos, senior Congress leader, former Minister and former Bantwal MLA B. Ramanath Rai said in Mangaluru on Thursday.Speaking to reporters, Mr. Rai said the Congress, as a responsible Opposition party, was right in asking the Union government to take responsibility for the NEET-UG paper leak. Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi had taken up the issue and staged a sit-in protest in front of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s residence. It was wrong on the part of the police, in Mr. Rai’s words, to “assault” Mr. Gandhi and remove him and other leaders from the protest site, he said.The Congress will stand by students demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the NEET-UG paper leak. “The Union government should be held accountable for the NEET paper leak and for the suicides of students allegedly driven to despair by it,” Mr. Rai said. Published - July 23, 2026 06:55 pm IST