How a paper leak led to education minister’s resignation: NEET-UG 2026 in a timeline

A whistleblower tutor cross-checking allegedly leaked exam questions, a courtroom remark that sparked the satirical Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), and, weeks later, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation. These were not separate stories but part of a single crisis that became one of the most contentious education controversies India has seen in recent years.It began with NEET-UG 2026, held on May 3 for more than 22 lakh candidates. Soon after the exam, tutor Shashikant Suthar said he noticed that questions in the paper closely matched a PDF that had been circulating before the test. According to his public statements, he alerted the National Testing Agency (NTA) and other authorities, and the case was later handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Subsequent inv