Bengaluru: Karnataka Congress president B K Hariprasad on Monday expressed regret over the difficulties reportedly faced by some students appearing for the NEET (UG) re-exam in reaching their centres on time due to traffic disruption, while attacking the BJP over question paper leaks.
He also took a swipe at BJP MP Tejasvi Surya without naming him, saying the "exit master" of Bengaluru was making vague allegations against the Congress.
His remarks came a day after Surya targeted the ruling Congress in Karnataka for holding a mega rally in Bengaluru on the day of the NEET exam (June 21), alleging that it caused massive traffic disruption and inconvenienced students travelling to examination centres.
"I have seen reports in newspapers and electronic media that some students faced hardship before attending the exams. If at all any of our children faced such problems, I deeply regret what happened to them," Hariprasad told reporters.
He said thousands of students had reportedly not attended the exam in places such as Kalaburagi and Mangaluru, where there were no Congress programmes.
Citing media reports, Hariprasad said only three students were said to have faced problems in Bengaluru.
"If any of our children have faced hardship, my deepest regrets are with them. But at the same time, I would like to question the BJP on what it has done for these students. Twice, NEET question papers were leaked. About 20 students have died by suicide," he alleged.
Targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the alleged paper leaks, Hariprasad claimed they had failed to express regret and take responsibility for the issue.
"Even to this day, PM Modi has not regretted what has happened to the students and the shameless Education Minister has not resigned," he alleged.
He maintained that all necessary precautions had been taken and that is why the programme was held on Sunday to avoid any traffic hassles.
"We discussed with the police and our party workers, and elaborate arrangements were made to control traffic," he said.
According to Hariprasad, people started arriving at the convention venue between 8.30 am and 9 am, while the programme began at 11 am and concluded by 2 pm.
He said candidates appearing at two examination centres near Palace Grounds were required to report by 1.30 pm.
"For some reason, some children did not reach on time. I do not know the exact reason, but we will send a Congress team to find out what hardship they faced. If there is anything we can do to compensate them, we will," he said.
Responding to a question on if Congress could have scheduled its programme for a different date in view of the NEET examination, Hariprasad said, "It's okay. We had made all the arrangements."
Rejecting the BJP's criticism, Hariprasad hit PM Modi saying the Prime Minister should have made all arrangements for students. He should have punished those people who had leaked the question papers.
"We had taken all precautions. If we had not done so, thousands of students would have faced problems. The BJP should explain what precautions it took to prevent question paper leaks. They are trying to cover up their own mistakes by putting the blame on us," he said.
This report was published from a wire feed. Apart from the headline, the EdexLive Desk has not edited the copy.