The controversies surrounding the NEET exam paper leak and the marking of CBSE Class
The meeting is also being closely watched as it is the group’s first since December 2023 – since then, the India Bloc has lost the national elections, winning only two of the 14 state elections.
The aforementioned parliamentarian added primarily that Tamil Nadu Vetri Kazhagam, who defeated the DMK in the recent elections in Tamil Nadu, and with whom the Congress has since allied itself after severing ties with its old ally DMK, may not be invited to the meeting as he does not have any MPs.
It is certainly not clear whether TVK is part of the INDAI bloc, though it has consistently taken an anti-BJP stance, unlike parties like the YSRCP and the BJD.
The India Caucus, which usually meets to discuss political groups, will make an exception to discuss the education sector and may also plan a joint campaign, the Rajya Sabha member said.
“The CBSE scams and NEET failures highlighting the incompetence of the NTA (National Testing Agency) will be high on our agenda,” this person added.
Disturbing people in the bloc will also find space on the agenda, according to the parliamentarian.
“We will also discuss how the BJP clinched victory through ‘Korean vote’ in Haryana, Maharashtra, Bihar and West Bengal. We will also discuss the role of the judiciary.”
The larger aim of the meeting is to launch a joint campaign against the BJP for the 2029 Lok Sabha elections.
After stumbling in the 2024 national elections, the BJP has regrouped and expanded beyond the Hindi belt. He notched his third successive win in Haryana, wrested Delhi from the AAP’s strong grip on the city, saw Bihar’s first BJP chief minister take office, and won West Bengal for the first time.
The India bloc meeting comes against the backdrop of a major controversy in the Central Board of Secondary Education. On Tuesday, the government transferred the chairman and secretary of the board and formed a committee to probe the controversial OSM tender after HT reported that CBSE floated three tenders between February 2025 and August 2025 with rules relaxed. HT also reported on the haste seen in speeding up the process of evaluating nearly 10 million answer scripts despite concerns.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has been demanding the dismissal of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the OSM issue and NEET paper leak.
The Central Bureau of Investigation is investigating the NEET paper leak that forced the government to cancel the exam and order a new one.
Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha leader Derek O’Brien said the India bloc would come together with a common goal and clear intent: the BJP must be defeated in 2029 before they complete their mission of killing democracy.
The Trinamool leadership confirmed that both former chief minister Mamata Banerjee and the party’s second-in-command Abhishek Banerjee will attend the meeting. The party lost the state elections to the BJP, and now a group of rebel MPs is demanding the Leader of the Opposition seat in the Bengal Parliament.
HT has learned that efforts are being made to include the Aam Admi Party to participate in the meeting “in one form or another”, a person familiar with the matter said.
It is not yet clear whether the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab next year, and potential alliances for them, will be on the agenda.
