Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday, 29 May 2026 shared allegations by a 17-year-old blogger, Sarthak Sidhant, who claims to have used CBSE's own documents to expose how the board allegedly manipulated its procurement process to favour a company called COEMPT, at the expense of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS).

Context

Gandhi, posting on X, stated that Sidhant's blog 'reveal[s] how CBSE changed the RFP to unduly benefit COEMPT, at the cost of TCS.' He added that the blogger 'has revealed the hollowness of' the process — the post appearing to be cut off mid-sentence. The claim centres on alleged changes to a Request for Proposal (RFP), a formal procurement document through which government bodies invite bids from vendors for contracts.

The Central Board of Secondary Education is India's apex school board, overseeing curriculum and examinations for thousands of affiliated schools. Procurement decisions by CBSE, particularly for large-scale technology or examination services, carry significant financial and administrative weight.

Policy Backdrop

Government technology tenders — especially those involving examination boards and education infrastructure — have periodically attracted disputes between competing IT vendors in India. Opposition leaders have increasingly used social media to flag alleged irregularities in public procurement, often preceding formal parliamentary questions or Right to Information (RTI) filings.

TCS, one of India's largest IT services firms, has participated in multiple government technology contracts over the years. The identity and background of COEMPT — the company alleged to have benefited from the RFP changes — could not be independently verified at the time of publication.

Stakeholders and Impact

If the allegations are substantiated, the implications would extend beyond a single contract. A manipulated RFP process at a national education board would raise questions about procurement integrity in India's public education technology sector, affecting competing IT service firms and the credibility of CBSE's administrative processes.

For students and schools affiliated with CBSE — numbering in the tens of thousands across India — the integrity of the board's vendor-selection processes directly affects the quality and reliability of examination and administrative services they receive. Civil society groups and parliamentary committees focused on education accountability are likely stakeholders in any follow-up.

What's Next

Gandhi's post is likely to invite a formal response from CBSE or the Ministry of Education. Parliamentary questions or an RTI application seeking details of the specific RFP and its revisions would be a natural next step for the opposition. Whether Sidhant's blog documentation will be placed before any regulatory or oversight body remains to be seen.

The episode underscores a growing pattern of citizen-led procurement scrutiny in India, where publicly available government documents are increasingly used to challenge official processes — and where social media amplification by prominent political figures can rapidly elevate such claims into the national conversation.