New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi sharply targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday following the National Testing Agency's (NTA) decision to re-conduct the UGC-NET examinations for English, Commerce, and Sociology, remarking, "Modi ji, look at what your NTA has just done."

The opposition figure stated that the testing body had drafted flawed examination papers and recycled old questions, compelling thousands of candidates to re-sit the tests in September.

Writing on the social media platform X, Gandhi noted, "UGC-NET exams for Sociology, English and Commerce were held between 22 and 30 June. Nearly two months later, NTA has cancelled all three because it set faulty papers and repeated old questions."

He highlighted that thousands of applicants who had spent extensive time preparing for the assessments will now be forced to undergo the entire process again.

"Thousands of candidates who prepared for years, filled forms, paid the fees, travelled to distant centres, must now do it all again in September. NTA makes the mistake, but the student serves the sentence," Gandhi said.

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The Congress leader charged that the national examination framework had morphed into an "extraction machine", asserting that it consumes candidates' financial resources, time, psychological well-being, and self-belief without offering adequate returns.

"I said this in Kota, in Dehradun, in Prayagraj, and I will keep saying it - this is no longer an education system. It is an extraction machine. It takes your money, your years, your mental health, and your confidence and returns nothing. Not even a job," he said.

"NTA still won't answer the real question - were these papers leaked before the exam? Just like every other arm of the Modi government, NTA never says it's their fault. Just like every other compromised paper, I am absolutely sure there will be no accountability," he said.

Calling for strict accountability within the administration of the testing agency, Gandhi added, "Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation was the first step, not the last. NTA's leadership must be held accountable too. To every student sitting this exam again in September - you are not the problem."

"PM Modi built a system that cannot run an exam and then blames the students who take it. Your years are being stolen and we will not stop until PM Modi answers for it," he added.

Echoing these concerns, a Congress Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament also raised serious questions regarding the agency's operational standards after the re-examination announcement.

"Nearly two months after the UGC NET June 2026 exam, the NTA itself admitted that the question papers for English, Commerce, and Sociology contained factual, typographical, and translation errors...Now, the exams for these three subjects will be held again on September 9 and 10. Our question is: Why should the country's students bear the punishment for NTA's mistakes? Does it really take nearly two months to detect such serious errors?...The government must explain why the results for thousands of candidates who have already taken the exams in 84 other subjects are delayed. For the young people who took the exam in June, every day matters... Will the Prime Minister, who scolds the country's youth from the ramparts of the Red Fort, say anything about his own responsibility? The youth of the country demands answers," the MP stated.

According to statements from the NTA, the agency received multiple grievances regarding numerous inaccuracies in the English, Commerce, and Sociology question papers. Officials stated that an expert panel was constituted to investigate the flaws and, adhering to its findings, resolved to re-administer the tests to maintain a "fair and error-free examination."

The fresh tests for English and Commerce are scheduled for September 9, with the Sociology examination following on September 10. The NTA confirmed that candidates will not be required to pay any additional fees, results for the remaining 84 subjects will be announced as planned, and overall seat allocations will remain unaffected.

ANI