TNI Bureau: Bhubaneswar witnessed massive protests on Tuesday as the Odisha Pradesh Student Congress intensified its agitation over the alleged NEET-UG scam, demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on moral grounds.

Led by Pradesh Student Congress leader Bibhuti Bhushan Mahapatra, hundreds of activists took out a torch rally from the Pradesh Congress Committee office towards the BJP state headquarters. However, police stopped the procession near Banadurga Temple, leading to a tense face-off between protesters and security personnel. Scuffles reportedly continued for nearly an hour.

During the protest, effigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Dharmendra Pradhan were burnt by demonstrators.

Addressing a press conference earlier in the day, Mahapatra alleged that the cancellation of the NEET-UG examination had affected nearly 22 lakh students across the country. He claimed that over 90 major examination paper leaks had occurred during the last ten years under the Modi government, impacting crores of students directly and indirectly.

The Student Congress also accused the National Testing Agency (NTA) of gross negligence and demanded its dissolution. Protest leaders alleged that repeated paper leaks and examination irregularities had shattered students’ trust in the system and pushed many aspirants into severe mental distress.

The organization further demanded that Dharmendra Pradhan be brought under the ambit of investigation and held accountable for the alleged failures in conducting national-level examinations.

The protest programme was flagged off by Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee President Bhakta Charan Das. Several student and Congress leaders participated in the rally and vowed to continue statewide protests over the NEET controversy.