Jagan demands Lokesh's resignation, CBI probe into DSC 2025 irregularities

Former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and YSR Congress Party president Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy on Thursday reiterated his demand for the resignation of Education Minister Nara Lokesh and a CBI probe into the DSC 2025 recruitment process, alleging "unprecedented irregularities" and claiming that some jobs were given to candidates who did not even appear for the examinations.

Addressing a press conference at the YSRCP central office in Tadepalli, Jagan questioned Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu and Lokesh over their silence on the questions raised by the Opposition regarding the recruitment process.

Jagan alleged that irregularities in the recruitment of teachers through DSC 2025 were coming to light one after another.

He accused the government of deliberately weakening the investigation into the alleged DSC scam and questioned why Chandrababu Naidu was trying to protect his son. He alleged that the government was "playing with the lives and futures of unemployed youth".

"Why were the preparation and supervision of DSC examination papers placed in the hands of a single individual, and why did the government introduce GO No. 4 and GO No. 47? Why were the GOs changed after the recruitment process was complete?" he asked.

Jagan also questioned how 372 posts under the sports quota were filled without conducting an examination.

"GO No. 4 and GO No. 47 opened the gates for irregularities, while GO Nos. 23, 25 and 56 were brought in later to close those gates after the work was completed."

The former chief minister alleged that recruitment rules were ignored while jobs were distributed. He claimed that after the alleged DSC irregularities came to light, the coalition government stalled APPSC examinations that it had planned to use for recruitment through a similar process.

"Jobs were given to candidates based on participation certificates for tournaments which never took place," he alleged.

Jagan described DSC as a "gem in the list of scams of Chandrababu" and said, "Many skeletons are tumbling out with every passing day from the DSC 2025 cupboard."

He alleged that while Naidu was attempting to shield his son, officials were running out of explanations to defend the recruitment process. Jagan also questioned the officials' claim that verification had been carried out seven times before the jobs were given, calling the explanation a joke.

He further accused Naidu and Lokesh of "misleading the legislature" as part of an alleged cover-up.

Jagan then cited individual cases to support his allegations regarding appointments under the sports quota.

According to him, 39 jobs were filled under the sports quota. He alleged that some candidates submitted certificates claiming participation in a tournament in Khammam that never took place. He said the Judo Association of Telangana had categorically stated that no such tournament was held, while the certificates were issued by the AP Judo Association, whose president, he alleged, is Lokesh's co-brother Bharath.

Jagan alleged that a similar practice occurred in Softball and said Kuna Ravi Kumar is its head.

He also referred to the case of Yogeshwara Rao and his sister, who he alleged were given sports-quota jobs on the basis of medals they supposedly won at a Kho-Kho Championship in Nalgonda. Jagan claimed the Telangana Kho-Kho Association had categorically stated that no such competition was held.

He further alleged that Basaweshwar Rao was given a job on the basis of a participation certificate for the 49th Senior Kho-Kho Championship in Gudivada. Jagan claimed the certificate was fake but officials did not take action.

Jagan also referred to the case of Prabhakar from Kurnool district, alleging that he was given a job "without writing TET". According to Jagan, Prabhakar should have secured 75 marks under his reservation quota but scored 65 and was still selected.

Officials, he said, defended the case by stating that Prabhakar had appeared for the examination several times and that his highest score was considered. Jagan claimed there was a mix-up in the category and alleged that a similar issue was seen in the case of Rasool from Kadapa district.

He alleged that the recruitment process began with the responsibility for preparing the question bank and conducting the examination being assigned to the same person. According to Jagan, the alleged question-paper leakage came to light after an outsourcing employee gained access to the paper and secured first rank, following which his name was removed from the merit list.

Jagan also claimed that audio and video evidence showed that jobs were being offered, but alleged that the case was not pursued in the manner it should have been.

He said the alleged irregularities had a serious impact on young people who were preparing for competitive examinations and working hard to secure government jobs.

"The entire exercise has a telling effect on youth who were working hard to write the competitive exams, and cockroaches would emerge with such indifference on the part of the government," he added.