After technical disruptions delayed the conduct of the Common University Entrance Test-Undergraduate on Saturday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi blamed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for “completely ruining the entire education system”.

Earlier in the day, the National Testing Agency, which conducts the exam for admissions into undergraduate programmes in central universities, said that a technical glitch had been reported at some centres during the CUET-UG 2026.

In a post on social media, the agency attributed the disruption to a technical issue at Tata Consultancy Services, which manages the exam infrastructure. “The issue has since been resolved, and the exam is being conducted with full compensatory time so that no candidate is disadvantaged,” it said.

The National Testing Agency added that candidates who completed their biometric registration and were present at the examination centres on Saturday but could not finish their examination due to the technical glitch will get an opportunity to retake the examination. The agency said it would provide the details of the re-examination later.

The incident came amid allegations of irregularities in the 2026 undergraduate National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for medical college seats, the Class 12 exam conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education and the Staff Selection Commission test for government posts.

Gandhi alleged that no exam had been conducted with honesty.

“NEET. CBSE. SSC. And today CUET. Four exams. One crore children,” the leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha said. “The generation whose future you [Modi] are destroying – that same generation will hold you accountable.”

The Aam Aadmi Party also shared a video of students purportedly standing outside the gate of an exam centre for the CUET-UG 2026.

“Today, millions of students were forced to stand for hours in the scorching sun during the CUET exam because the server itself went down,” it said in a post. “This is the state of affairs under Modi rule – they can’t even conduct a single paper properly…”

The AAP added: “The Modi government can’t manage the education system, and after every failure, it starts a new drama.”

Aam Aadmi Party leader Atishi also criticised Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and shared a notice put up outside one of the exam centres on the delay.

“First NEET, then CBSE, now CUET…,” the former Delhi Chief Minister said. “Today CUET has been delayed due to a ‘technical issue’. Lakhs of students were to take the exam in all parts of India today and after waiting for hours, such notices have been put up outside all centres. Remarkable incompetence Dharmendra Pradhan.”

Irregularities in NEET, CBSE and SSC

On May 12, the National Testing Agency, which conducts NEET-UG for admission to undergraduate medical courses in India, cancelled the test for this year following allegations of a paper leak.

More than 22 lakh candidates had appeared for the test that was conducted on May 3.

The test had to be cancelled after the Rajasthan Special Operations Group began investigating allegations that a “guess paper” circulated before the examination contained questions closely matching the actual paper.

The “guess paper” contained around 410 questions, of which about 120 matched the questions asked in the chemistry section, according to the Rajasthan Police. The Central Bureau of Investigation filed a first information report in the matter based on a complaint by the Union education ministry.

On May 15, the National Testing Agency said that the re-exam for the 2026 NEET-UG would be held on June 21. On the same day, the Union education minister said that the exam would be computer-based from next year.

A day later, the Union education ministry said that the CBI had arrested a Pune-based botany teacher in connection with the alleged paper leak. Nine persons have been arrested in the case so far.

A batch of petitions is also being heard in the Supreme Court on the alleged paper leak.

Separately, the CBSE’s On-Screen Marking evaluation process for evaluating Class 12 answer sheets had come under criticism in the past two weeks following complaints about alleged glitches and irregularities during the evaluation process.

Many students had alleged that the scanned copies of answer sheets uploaded by the CBSE did not match their handwriting, raising concerns about possible answer sheet mismatches, the Hindustan Times reported.

Students seeking re-evaluation also alleged that they faced portal failures, delays in payment confirmation and, in some cases, were asked to pay excess fees because of technical glitches.

On Thursday, Pradhan said that the Union government acknowledged discrepancies in the OSM system and accepted responsibility for them. The minister added that strict action would be taken against anyone found to be “intentionally responsible” for irregularities in the evaluation process.

In Uttar Pradesh, the Staff Selection Commission (Central Region) on May 26 cancelled the 2026 Constable (General Duty) Examination at several centres in the state amid protests by candidates over alleged “technical disruptions”, The Indian Express reported.

The Staff Selection Commission on social media said that the technical disruptions were reported at one centre each in Kanpur, Prayagraj, Lucknow and Muzaffarpur during the afternoon shift on May 25.

Edited by Tanya Shrivastava.