NEW DELHI: Lok Sabha leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi on Sunday took a swipe at the BJP-led central government as he met CBSE class 12 students, who were labelled “anti-national”, “Pakistani” and “Soros agents” on social media after they raised concern over incorrect answer sheets.This is related to a controversy that later prompted the board to acknowledge an error and intensified scrutiny of its evaluation process.Sharing a video of his interaction with Class 12 student Vedant Shrivastava and his friends, Rahul Gandhi criticised those who had targeted the student online after he raised concerns about discrepancies in his CBSE Physics answer sheet.“A revealing chat with my fellow “anti-national Soros agents.” Vedant and his friends are brilliant, brave young Indians who asked CBSE and the Modi government simple questions – but got insults instead of answers. They deserve a bright and secure future. We will make sure they get it,” Rahul Gandhi wrote in a post on X.Also read: CBSE admits wrong Physics answer sheet was uploaded for Class 12 student after viral posts; family seeks cautious OSM rolloutThe remarks come days after the Central Board of Secondary Education acknowledged that an incorrect Physics answer sheet had been uploaded under Vedant’s roll number and subsequently shared the correct answer book with him.In the video shared by Rahul Gandhi, Vedant recalled the backlash he faced after publicly raising the issue.“They started calling us anti national and Pakistani,” the student said.He added that some people believed “that we are some deep state agents that are trying to create a rest in India.”Responding to the student’s account, Rahul Gandhi criticised the attacks directed at him.“And your students, I mean, you’ve got nothing to do with anything. You’re asking for your answer sheet, that’s all. Now suddenly you become anti nationals. You have to accept the problem if you want to solve the problem,” Rahul Gandhi said.“You’re just refusing to accept that the problem. You’re blaming the poor kids and saying, you know, you’re deep state, you’re spies or terrorists,” he added.The controversy began after Vedant claimed that the Physics answer sheet uploaded by CBSE under his roll number did not belong to him. His posts on social media gained widespread attention, triggering a debate over the board’s newly introduced On-Screen Marking (OSM) system and the process for accessing evaluated answer books.Following a review, CBSE acknowledged the error and informed the student that the correct answer sheet had been sent to his registered email address. The board also said that steps were being taken to update his result, if required.
