Chirag Paswan offers talks to students, blames Congress over exam protests

Published 22 July 2026 · politics

Union minister Chirag Paswan has said the government is open to dialogue with students protesting over alleged irregularities in competitive examinations, while accusing the Opposition

Union minister Chirag Paswan has said the government is open to dialogue with students protesting over alleged irregularities in competitive examinations, while accusing the Opposition, particularly the Congress, of politicising the issue. He said all channels of communication with the protesters had been kept open. Paswan said Prime Minister Narendra Modi remained concerned about the welfare of students, youth and farmers, and expressed hope that talks would lead to a common platform and a solution. He also defended the government's handling of the alleged NEET paper leak and asked the Opposition to discuss the matter in Parliament instead of disrupting proceedings. Read Full Story Speaking on the sidelines of an event organised by Coca-Cola India to mark 50 years of Maaza, Paswan said, "The government has kept all channels for dialogue open.

I believe communication can find all solutions; so I am hopeful soon we will have a common platform where we can discuss and come to a conclusion." He said the government was already engaging with students, but alleged that the Congress was trying to draw political mileage from the protests. "We are having dialogues with the students. Congress is doing politics on it. The way Rahul ji and Priyanka ji were at the Prime Minister's residence... some places are sensitive, especially when Section 163 is imposed. What if some anti-social element comes?" he said. Referring to the recent protests in the national capital, Paswan alleged that anti-social elements had infiltrated the demonstrations. "We have also seen the visuals where constables are being beaten and police officers are being attacked.

Surely these are not students doing this. Under their guise, some anti-social elements come in between," he said. Paswan said the prime minister had repeatedly raised concerns over issues affecting students. "I have seen the prime minister in the workspace and outside it. Yesterday, during an NDA meeting, the prime minister expressed his concern for the youth, students and farmers," he said. Defending the government's response to the alleged NEET paper leak, he said, "Which government would want bad for the students? If a mistake has been made, it will be corrected, and we have done that. The NEET paper was leaked, we took action, a re-examination was conducted, the results came out and those students are now in the counselling process." He also appealed to the Opposition to take part in parliamentary proceedings.