Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Harsh Malhotra on Monday, 27 July accused Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor Arvind Kejriwal of applying double standards on the issue of examination paper leaks — publicly stoking student protests in Delhi while staying conspicuously silent on similar allegations in AAP-governed Punjab.

The Core Allegation

Malhotra charged that Kejriwal's belated denial — that no examination paper was leaked in Punjab — came only after 15 to 18 days of sustained public scrutiny. According to Malhotra, the delay itself is telling. “If no pharmacist examination paper or any other examination paper was leaked in Punjab, then why did it take Kejriwal and other AAP leaders 15 to 18 days to deny the allegations?” he said, arguing the denial was an afterthought designed to shield the state government rather than address genuine grievances.

What Students in Punjab Have Been Demanding

Malhotra pointed to widespread student unrest across Punjab, where protesters have been demanding the resignation of Punjab Education Minister Sardar Harjot Singh Bains. He cited video reports of police lathi-charging demonstrators in multiple locations across the state. “For the past 15 days, the entire country has been discussing allegations that the pharmacist examination paper was leaked in Punjab, and that examination papers had been leaked twice earlier as well,” Malhotra said.

Delhi Protests and the Jantar Mantar Angle

The BJP leader alleged that after the student demonstration at Jantar Mantar in Delhi concluded last Saturday, ordinary students and journalists began pressing AAP leaders — who had been present at the protest site — to extend their agitation to Punjab and Karnataka, where similar paper-leak allegations have surfaced. Malhotra claimed it was this public pressure that prompted Kejriwal's denial. He accused Kejriwal of “continuously provoking and attempting to turn the student movement in Delhi violent” while remaining indifferent to calls for his own minister's resignation in Punjab.

AAP's Position

Kejriwal has reportedly claimed that no paper was leaked under the AAP government in Punjab and that his party's administration had, in fact, curbed cheating in examinations. NationPress could not independently verify this claim at the time of publication. AAP has not issued a detailed public response to Malhotra's specific charges about the 15-to-18-day delay in addressing the allegations.

Broader Context

Paper leak controversies have roiled several states in recent months, emerging as a politically charged issue ahead of upcoming elections. The National Testing Agency (NTA) controversy at the Centre earlier this year had already sensitised public opinion on examination integrity. This is not the first time BJP and AAP have clashed over the Punjab government's handling of education-related issues, with the ruling party facing criticism over law and order at protest sites as well. How the AAP government responds to the escalating demands for the Education Minister's resignation is expected to shape the next phase of this political confrontation.