Ruckus in Punjab Assembly over paper leak issue

Noisy scenes unfolded in the Punjab Assembly on Monday as opposition Congress MLAs raised the issue of alleged multiple paper leaks and sought the resignation of Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains.

Treasury benches led by Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema counter-attacked the Congress legislators, accusing them of staging a drama. Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan briefly adjourned the proceedings after the Congress MLAs trooped to the Well of the House on the first day of the State Assembly’s Monsoon Session.

During the Question Hour, Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa raised the issue of alleged multiple examination paper leaks in the state over the last four and a half years.

Pointing to Education Minister Bains, Congress leader Bajwa said he visited the Cockroach Janta Party’s protest site at Jantar Mantar in Delhi, where he demanded Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation over the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak controversy. 

The CJP called off its 36-day agitation on July 25 after Pradhan resigned and the Government accepted its other demands.

Bajwa asked whether Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains would now accept responsibility for the alleged paper leak in Punjab and resign. The LoP alleged that six exam paper leak incidents occurred during the AAP regime: five linked to the education department and one to the health department.

Referring to the recent cheating racket unearthed during the pharmacy officer recruitment exam, Bajwa demanded the resignation of Health Minister Balbir Singh.

Bajwa, along with other Congress MLAs wearing black scarves, continued to press for the resignation of Bains and Singh, even as the Speaker urged them to maintain order and let the House proceedings continue.

Ignoring the Speaker, the Congress MLAs rushed to the Well of the House and raised slogans against the AAP government. Responding to the allegations, Bains said he would respond after the Question Hour, stating he came fully prepared.

He dared the Congress MLAs not to leave the House. “Sit here, I came fully prepared,” Bains challenged the Congress MLAs. BJP MLA Ashwani Sharma and suspended Congress MLA Sandeep Jakhar supported the issue raised by the Congress MLA, though they did not go to the Well of the House.

Leading the charge against the Congress MLAs, Finance Minister Cheema slammed them for allegedly indulging in a drama. Lauding the Mann government’s work, Cheema said around 70,000 jobs were given only on merit during the four-and-a-half-year period.

The Congress MLAs continued sloganeering and demanded the resignation of both ministers.

The AAP MLAs also raised counter-slogans against the opposition legislators. Amid the din, the Speaker adjourned the House for a brief period.

The opposition has been targeting the AAP Government over the alleged multiple examination paper leaks following the detection of a recent cheating racket in the pharmacy officer recruitment exam.

Earlier, without naming anyone, Bajwa asked the Speaker for guidance regarding the Akal Takht Jathedar’s direction not to associate with a ‘Guru Dokhi’ (anti-Guru) and ‘Panth Virodhi’ (anti-panth).

Speaker Sandhwan said the Guru occupies the highest position in the ‘Guru Panth’ and Sri Akal Takht Sahib is great; it is the pride of Sikhism. But ‘Sangat’ is more prominent, and we are going by what the Sangat is deciding, he said. In June, the Akal Takht had declared Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann ‘Guru Dokhi’ and ‘Panth Virodhi’ over a controversial video.