NEW DELHI: Maharashtra BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar on Wednesday claimed that state school education minister Dada Bhuse was “unaware” that the question papers of the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET), which was postponed following an alleged paper leak, had been printed in Agra.Mungantiwar said Bhuse, who belongs to the Shiv Sena led by deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde, “privately” admitted that he had not been informed by his department that papers were printed in Agra.“The school education minister privately admitted that his department never informed him that the (TET) examination papers were being printed in Agra. Agra has a historic connection with Maharashtra as Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj escaped from there, but now the sin of an examination paper leak has also taken place there,” he told reporters on the premises of Vidhan Bhavan, where the state legislature session is currently underway.“The minister now says the examinations will be conducted online and the question papers will be prepared here. However, this exposes serious lapses in the functioning of the school education department,” he added.Mungantiwar also stated that he had urged Bhuse to conduct a thorough audit of every examination organised by the state government to ensure they were conducted fairly and peacefully, and to establish a foolproof mechanism to prevent such incidents in the future.According to investigators, the Maharashtra State Council of Examination had entrusted printing of TET papers to Mahim Patran Pvt Ltd, an Agra-based company with a corporate office in Delhi that has reportedly been printing papers for the council for nearly 25 years. After printing, the papers were despatched under security to exam centres across Maharashtra.The Maharashtra TET 2026 was postponed on June 27, a day before it was scheduled to be held, after police in Thane district found that a part of the question paper had allegedly been leaked.The development, which affected six lakh candidates, prompted opposition leaders to target the BJP-led government, alleging that it was focused on breaking political parties instead of ensuring foolproof examinations. The remarks were in reference to the recent defection of leaders from Shiv Sena (UBT) to Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena, a BJP ally.In connection with the alleged leak, Bhiwandi Police in Thane district have so far arrested four persons, originally from Bihar and Haryana, including the wife of one of the absconding accused. An SIT is investigating the case after a preliminary probe indicated the involvement of an inter-state racket.The controversy has gained significance amid wider political attacks over examination paper leaks, with the BJP-led Union government also facing criticism over the NEET-UG examination paper leak in May. Opposition parties have been demanding the resignation of Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the issue.(With PTI inputs)
