Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel H.D. Kumaraswamy on Tuesday, 12 May launched a sharp counter-attack on the Indian National Congress (Congress) over the NEET-UG 2026 re-examination controversy, questioning the party's moral authority to criticise examination irregularities while accusing it of presiding over the deterioration of the Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) during its own tenures in power. Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, Kumaraswamy deflected opposition criticism of the Centre by pointing to what he described as a systemic failure in Karnataka's recruitment machinery under Congress administrations.

Kumaraswamy Questions Congress's Credibility

The Union Minister challenged Congress to account for its own track record in managing examinations and public recruitment in Karnataka. He alleged that examinations had been repeatedly postponed in the state and that irregularities were far from absent during Congress rule. "How many times have examinations been postponed in our state? Were there no irregularities during the Congress regime? The Congress failed to reform the KPSC. Today, people openly speak about the poor state of the commission," he alleged.

Kumaraswamy went further, accusing Congress of fostering a culture of corruption in government recruitment. "The Congress is responsible for the deterioration of KPSC. The Chief Minister (Siddaramaiah) had promised to cleanse the system, but what exactly did they clean up? There were open discussions in public about fixed rates for government posts. It was the Congress that created such an atmosphere," he charged.

Paper Leaks Not Always a Government Failure

Referring to reported examination paper leaks in Rajasthan, Kumaraswamy argued that individual lapses should not automatically be attributed to governments. "Paper leaks have happened in Rajasthan too. Sometimes mistakes are committed by individuals and it is unfair to entirely blame the government for every incident. Similar situations have occurred several times during Congress rule in Karnataka. What moral authority does Congress have to lecture others on this issue?" he asked. This comes amid mounting pressure on the National Testing Agency (NTA) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Central government following the reported cancellation and re-scheduling of the NEET-UG 2026 examination.

Karnataka Minister Hits Back, Blames the Centre

Karnataka Minister for Medical Education, Skill Development and Livelihood Sharanaprakash R. Patil offered a sharply contrasting view, strongly condemning the Central government's cancellation of the NEET examination and calling it a "grave injustice to lakhs of aspiring medical students across the country."

Minister Patil described the NEET fiasco as the Central government's "biggest scandal," alleging that irregularities and controversies had been a recurring feature for the past four to five years without resolution. "The BJP government at the Centre is entirely responsible for this mess. Despite repeated representations to the Central government and the concerned Ministry, no corrective action was taken, leading to yet another massive failure," Patil said. He alleged that "crores of rupees" were changing hands in paper leak cases, calling it outright corruption, and demanded that the guilty be brought to justice.

Students Caught in the Crossfire

Both sides of the political divide acknowledged the toll the re-examination has taken on students. Minister Patil expressed deep concern for the mental well-being of candidates who had prepared sincerely. "Conducting the examination all over again is deeply unfair to honest, hardworking students. It causes immense stress and hardship to students and their families," he said, urging students to stay strong and prepare for the re-examination with confidence.

Notably, this is not the first time NEET has been at the centre of a political storm — the 2024 edition triggered nationwide protests and a Supreme Court intervention over alleged paper leaks and grace-mark irregularities. With the NEET-UG 2026 re-examination now ordered, the political battle over accountability is set to intensify in the weeks ahead.