Jaipur, May 13 (PTI) Congress leaders on Wednesday attacked the BJP government in Rajasthan over the alleged involvement of a local party leader in the NEET-UG paper leak.
Family members of Dinesh Binwal, a local BJP leader at Jamwa Ramgarh in Jaipur district, said that he and his brother were detained by police for questioning and claimed that they were being falsely implicated.
Meanwhile, a BJP office-bearer denied that Binwal held any party post.
Former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot on Wednesday claimed that the state government had tried to suppress the paper leak issue as one of the accused held in the matter was a BJP leader.
State Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasra, Leader of Opposition Tikaram Jully and other leaders have also questioned the Bhajanlal Sharma-led government, asking why the Rajasthan Police’s Special Operations Group (SOG) had not registered an FIR in the case despite receiving concrete inputs.
The SOG has detained more than 150 people and handed over around 20 of them to the CBI for questioning on Tuesday night.
The SOG officials, however, have not disclosed the names of the detained individuals.
During the 2023 assembly elections, the BJP had made the paper leak a key issue against the then Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government. With the current NEET-UG paper leak case, the Congress leaders, including Gehlot, have intensified their attack on the BJP over the issue.
In an X post, Gehlot named Dinesh Binwal as the accused.
“The accused arrested in the NEET-UG paper leak case, Dinesh Binwal, is a functionary of the Bharatiya Janata Party,” claimed Gehlot, who also shared a poster that showed Binwal as the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha district secretary in Jaipur rural.
Gehlot asked if Binwal’s involvement was the reason why the state government tried to suppress the paper leak issue and not register an FIR.
“I have been asking since May 11 why the BJP government was not filing an FIR. Now the BJP’s truth has been exposed,” he said, asking, “Is the BJP government now protecting the paper leak mafia that is playing with the future of the youth?” Responding to Gehlot’s allegations, state BJP vice-president Mukesh Dadhich said that Binwal holds no position in the party.
While Binwal hails from Jaipur’s Jamwa Ramgarh, the SOG has detained several persons from Sikar, Jaipur Rural, Alwar and other nearby areas.
Meanwhile, Binwal’s family members said he and his brother were detained by police, but both were falsely implicated.
According to Binwal’s mother Prabhu Devi, her son was a good friend of the local MLA, and she had talked to the legislator after her sons were detained by police.
“My sons are innocent. They have been falsely implicated. I called the MLA and asked him why they were taken,” Prabhu Devi said.
Dinesh’s wife Rajni said her husband cannot be involved in such a case. She said she was in Sikar with her son for his NEET-UG preparations.
Rajni said her son was also taken by the police.
“Police did not tell us the reason for taking them. I do not believe that my husband and brother-in-law can be involved in the paper leak,” she said.
Meanwhile, photographs of Dinesh Binwal with several BJP leaders have emerged on social media. They show him extending birthday wishes to Jamwa Ramgarh MLA Mahendrapal Meena.
Meena did not respond to calls when PTI tried to contact him.
Gehlot said the BJP had misled people during the assembly elections.
“The reality is that our government brought a law in 2022, providing for imprisonment of up to 10 years and a fine of Rs 10 crore for offences such as paper leaks and cheating during government recruitment exams. We brought it a month after the Rajasthan Eligibility Exam for Teachers (REET) level-two examination held in September 2021 was cancelled due to a paper leak. In 2023, Rajasthan Examination (Measures for Prevention of Unfair Means in Recruitment) (Amendment) Bill was passed to increase the sentence up to life imprisonment,” the former chief minister said.
He said the paper leak is a serious issue and a big challenge. “Paper leaks have happened in various states and in the Army and judiciary as well, but the BJP had defamed our government and misled people. We took an important step and made stringent provisions to curb paper leaks in our government,” Gehlot said.
PCC president Dotasra alleged that the state government deliberately suppressed the matter to shield its people. “The government should tell why the FIR was not registered,” he said.
Leader of Opposition Tikaram Jully said the BJP government’s credibility was in question.
Referring to photographs circulating online purportedly showing Binwal with BJP leaders, he claimed they indicated his association with the party.
“The truth has now spread like wildfire among people that the paper leak has direct links with those enjoying political patronage,” Jully said.
Questioning the decision to hand over the case to CBI, Jully said there were fears that the probe could turn into a “mere formality”.
“When the main accused are allegedly linked to corridors of power, can it be expected that the probe agencies will function impartially?” he asked, demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on moral grounds. PTI SDA RUK RUK
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.