The Congress and the Left parties have said that issues like the leaking of CBSE question papers and the communal tension in West Bengal and Bihar throw light on the incompetence of the BJP to govern the country.

Former HRD minister and senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal has asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to express regret over the leaking of CBSE board question papers. He sought an explanation from the Prime Minister for restarting the public examination system for class X that the UPA government had scrapped.

Sibal accused the Centre of setting aside the foolproof systems that were in place to prevent the leak of question papers. “For the first time in the recent past, one question paper was circulated for all two million students. Why did the government change the system? Were they under pressure? Who changed the system,” the former HRD Minister asked.

He wondered how a government could secure the country if it was unable to keep a question paper safe. “The Prime Minister is silent on this. Is he not concerned about this? Why he is reluctant to express regrets to two million students and their parents?” Sibal said, and alleged that mafias are controlling examination system. “First Vyapam, then SSC and now CBSE… They are protecting mafias,” he said.

The CPI(M) Central Committee, which was in session, said all those responsible for causing distress to students need to be identified and punished. “The CBSE has admitted to the leakage of question papers. This has affected the future of 16.38 lakh students of Class X and 8 lakh students of Class XII,” a statement from the Central Committee said.

Chelameshwar’s letter

Sibal, referring to a letter reportedly written by Supreme Court judge Justice J Chelameshwar to Chief Justice of India Deepak Misra, said the judiciary is under attack from the BJP. “The government first interfered in the affairs of media. Now, they want to manage the judiciary. What is left then in democracy?”.

Citing various incidents of communal violence in West Bengal and Bihar, he said the RSS is trying to divide the society on communal lines. “It is no longer the BJP that is in power. It is the RSS. RSS wants a different India. The fight is with the RSS,” Sibal said, and claimed that not a single section of the society is happy with the present government.

The CPI(M) said the communal disturbances began with the violent manner in which Ram Navami was celebrated by the Sangh Parivar. “A new feature since last year has been the open display of arms. This is part of the vicious attempts at communal polarisation spearheaded by the Hindutva forces elsewhere in the country. In Uttar Pradesh, the BJP government has decided to withdraw 131 riot cases, thus, absolving the RSS/BJP perpetrators of violence. This exposes the victims of these riots to greater risks and uncertainties,” CPI(M)’s central committee said in a statement.

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