New Delhi, 16 July (H.S.): Ahead of Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi's scheduled visit to Uttarakhand on July 17, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday hit back at his remarks describing the state as the epicentre of paper leak scandals. The BJP said Rahul Gandhi should first tell the people and youth of Uttarakhand that the roots of recruitment scams were laid during Congress governments in the state.
BJP IT Cell chief Amit Malviya said in a post on X that during the N.D. Tiwari government (2002–2007), serious allegations of irregularities emerged in the Sub-Inspector recruitment process, with the investigation eventually reaching the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). He also alleged that large-scale irregularities in the Patwari recruitment examination forced the recruitment process to be cancelled.
Malviya further claimed that recruitment controversies continued during the Harish Rawat government (2014–2017). He said that in the 2016 Village Panchayat Development Officer (VPDO) recruitment examination, the then Chairman, Secretary and Examination Controller of the commission were arrested. He also referred to the SIDCUL recruitment controversy, alleging that relatives of influential individuals were favoured, necessitating a Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe. According to him, recruitment processes conducted by the Uttarakhand Board of Technical Education (UBTER) and Uttarakhand Ayurved University were also repeatedly embroiled in controversy.
He said that recruitment processes under Congress governments were consistently questioned, investigations were ordered, recruitment drives were cancelled, and public confidence, particularly among young aspirants, was severely undermined.
Drawing a contrast with the current administration, Malviya said that when the UKSSSC recruitment scam surfaced during the tenure of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, the BJP government did not suppress the matter. Instead, it enacted what he described as the country's toughest anti-cheating law, arrested and jailed more than 100 members of alleged examination cheating syndicates, and introduced extensive reforms to make recruitment processes more transparent. He added that more than 34,000 young people had secured government jobs through transparent recruitment procedures over the past four years.
Earlier on Thursday, Rahul Gandhi had written on X that Uttarakhand had been turned into the country's epicentre of paper leaks. He alleged that a system had taken root in which government posts were no longer secured through merit but through rates fixed by criminals. He further claimed that although the government had enacted a stringent anti-cheating law, paper leaks continued unabated, making the legislation ineffective. He described the leaks as not merely leaks, but theft of the rights and future of the youth.
Notably, Rahul Gandhi's rally has already triggered a confrontation between the Congress and the Uttarakhand administration. The event was initially scheduled to be held at Parade Ground, but the administration extended the duration of an ongoing Central Government programme at the venue and subsequently revoked the permission granted for the Congress event.
The Congress then shifted the programme to Bannu School Ground and began preparations at the alternative venue. On Tuesday night, Congress workers and the police clashed after party leaders arrived at Parade Ground with tenting material. Police had earlier transported four truckloads of equipment to Bannu School Ground. Rahul Gandhi's earlier scheduled visit to Almora and Pauri on June 4 had been postponed due to inclement weather.
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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar
