Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday renewed his long-running attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s educational credentials, using the disruption of the Combined University Entrance Test (CUET-UG) 2026 as fresh ammunition.
Sharing a post by his party colleague Atishi, who targeted Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the delay, Kejriwal posted the line: “The country needs an educated Prime Minister.”
The National Testing Agency, which conducts the CUET test, attributed today’s disruption to a technical glitch at its technology partner, Tata Consultancy Services. The morning session was postponed for up to two hours at centers across multiple states. NTA has revised the afternoon session accordingly, moving the reporting time to 2:30 pm and the start of the examination to 4 pm. “NTA deeply regrets the inconvenience caused to students and parents,” the agency said.
A series of disputes
The holdup is the latest in a series of controversies over exams that have put the NTA, Pradhan, and the Modi government under sustained political fire.
Read also | ‘First NEET, then CBSE, now CUET’: Modi govt faces fire over yet another exam ‘glitch’, NTA issues clarification on delay
NEET-UG 2026, held on May 3, was canceled after widespread allegations of paper leakage. The government ordered a probe into the CBI and scheduled re-examination of over 22 lakh aspirants on June 21.
The Staff Selection Commission’s GD Constable exam 2026 was separately marred by a server crash, seating miscalculation and a cheating racket bust by the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force in Greater Noida.
Atishi framed the CUET delay as part of the same pattern: “First NEET, then CBSE, and now CUET,” she said in X. Congress MP and Leader of Opposition
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi listed the four – NEET, CBSE, SSC and CUET – saying: “Four exams. One crore children. And not a single one has been conducted honestly.” The opposition leader squarely blamed Modi for “sabotaging” the education system.
Pradhan said he takes “full responsibility” for the CBSE discrepancies and assured that the NEET exam was retaken smoothly. The government said that Prime Minister Modi was “personally supervising” it.
As for the CUET exam, which was introduced in 2022 under the National Education Policy, it is a national-level entrance exam for undergraduate admission in central and state universities and some private universities. It is conducted in multiple shifts over several days – this year’s session runs from May 11 to 31.
Kejriwal and degree
Arvind Kejriwal’s statements were in line with his continued insistence on questioning Prime Minister Modi’s ratings. “Shouldn’t the Prime Minister of a great country like India be educated? A private company requires MBA, MA and BA for the job of a manager,” Kejriwal has said in the past.
Prime Minister Modi, whose rise from a humble background has been well documented, holds a bachelor’s degree according to Delhi University, as well as a master’s degree according to Gujarat University.
However, Kejriwal, a former revenue official with a degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, and his party have mounted a years-long effort seeking to expose Modi’s academic credentials through the Right to Information route. Modi’s 2014 election affidavit also announced that he obtained a bachelor’s degree from Delhi University and a master’s degree from Gujarat University.
In May 2016, then BJP president Amit Shah and then minister Arun Jaitley issued Modi’s degree certificates at a press conference. The documents showed that PM Modi completed his bachelor’s degree by correspondence from Delhi University in 1978, and his master’s in political science from Gujarat University in 1983. The vice-chancellor of Gujarat University separately confirmed Modi’s master’s degree, 62.3%, after a directive from the Central Information Commission.
An RTI suit seeking public disclosure of the bachelor’s degree has made limited headway in court. Last year, a single-judge bench of the Delhi High Court set aside a 2016 INS order directing Delhi University to disclose the records. The court ruled that academic credentials are personal information.
The appeals filed by RTI activist Neeraj Kumar and AAP MP Sanjay Singh are pending before a division bench of the HC. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing Delhi University, told the court that “there is nothing in the matter”.
