Karnataka, Tamil Nadu seek return of state medical entrance exams after NEET paper leak

The leak of the NEET-UG 2026 examination paper has sent shockwaves across the country, with many state governments now urging the Centre to scrap the exam altogether and allow the states to carry out their own entrance examinations forr admission into medical colleges.

The strongest voices which have urged the Centre to do away with the NEET have come from the southern states.

On Saturday, the Karnataka government asked the Centre to scrap the NEET-UG examination from the academic year 2026 onwards and restore the states' authority to conduct their own Common Entrance Tests.

While speaking at a press conference in Bengaluru, State Medical Education Minister Sharan Prakash Patil said that the NEET paper leak has been a "grave injustice" to the students. He has also accused the Narendra Modi government of "sabotaging" the futures of those who dream of becoming doctors one day.

Karnataka's CET is a far superior model to NEET and should be adopted nationally. The state has urged the Centre on multiple occasions to consider this, but those appeals have gone unheeded, he said.

The TN CM said that the NEET, since its introduction, has “severely disadvantaged the students from rural areas, government schools, Tamil medium backgrounds, and socio-economically disadvantaged families,” as per a TOI report. Vijay has also called for the states to be given the authority to allow admission into medical colleges based on Class 12 results.

On Thursday, VD Satheesan, the CM-designate of Kerala, said that the state will not be conducting the NEET exams. "We will give proposals. We are not conducting NEET exams, it is conducted at an all-India level. We will check it and we will give proposals to the concerned authorities," he said, as per ANI.

"The whole country knows that two days before NEET, its question paper was being distributed on WhatsApp. Dharmendra Pradhan ji says he has nothing to do with the matter. The (Parliamentary) Committee had made recommendations but he put it in the dustbin on the pretext that opposition people were on the committee and that it was of no use," Gandhi said in his statement.

"The truth is that you (government) have damaged the core of India. This is a nexus of the RSS, the BJP and their people that have been installed in universities, vice chancellors and professors, to mint money," the Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition added.

"The whole country knows that if you want to become the vice chancellor of a university, you don't need subject knowledge, experience, you just have to be from the RSS," he said, adding, "This is the reason that 80 times in this country, exam papers have been leaked and the future of two crore youth has been destroyed,".

"The PM should immediately order that Dharmendra Pradhan should be sacked and the people who are guilty of this be put in jail," Gandhi said.

In a post on X along with the video, Gandhi said, "2.2 million NEET aspirants have been betrayed. Yet, Modi ji has not uttered a single word. Remove Dharmendra Pradhan ji immediately, or take responsibility yourself. Modi ji, SACK Dharmendra Pradhan ji NOW."

In another post in Hindi, Gandhi said, "Mr. Dharmendra Pradhan has betrayed 22 lakh NEET aspirants. Furthermore, he has insulted Parliament itself - by dismissing the Parliamentary Committee's report solely because it included MPs from the Opposition."

With agency inputs