Priyanka Gandhi Vadra flags concerns over student protests, exam system during Lok Sabha debate
Raises questions on protest handling and calls for accountability from government
Says examination reforms and employment generation remain key challenges
Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra questioned the government's approach to student protests and examination reforms during the Lok Sabha debate on the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026, prompting a response from Union Minister Kiren Rijiju.
Vadra began by questioning the police response to recent student protests, asking why pellet guns and AK-47s were used against young protesters and whether they were being treated as "terrorists."
She demanded to know who had ordered the use of pellet guns, whether the Prime Minister or the Home Minister, saying they "must answer," and asserted that the demand for accountability was not confined to the Congress party but was being raised by "the entire nation," according to the news agency ANI.
She further criticised the government's record on jobs and education, saying it had consistently weakened all employment-generating sectors and that the examination system itself had failed.
She cited 152 paper leaks over the last decade, saying crores of students had been affected while not a single culprit, "not one member of the paper leak mafia," she said, had been punished, ANI reported.
Vadra alleged that the government had weakened the education system through its policies, including the involvement of RSS members in educational institutions and criticised the establishment of the National Testing Agency (NTA) and the centralisation of the examination system.
She also flagged that the education budget's share of the total Union budget was declining rather than rising year on year, "instead of increasing year by year, the share of the education budget in the country's total budget is actually declining," she said.
Row Over Education Minister Remark
Vadra further alleged that the Prime Minister had appointed a new Education Minister, a person who had "expressed consent and even happiness" over the release of individuals convicted of raping a pregnant woman.
The remark drew an immediate objection from Union Minister Kiren Rijiju, who said it amounted to "character assassination within Parliament" and that such language was not expected in the House.
"These statements should be expunged from the record. Secondly, such language should not be used," Rijiju said, while adding that Priyanka should apologise to the House for her remarks.
