Rahul Gandhi Accuses Centre of 'Shielding' Dharmendra Pradhan After CBSE Officials Transferred

Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday launched a sharp attack on the Central government following a major administrative shake-up at the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). Gandhi accused the administration of shielding Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan while shifting the blame onto bureaucrats to dodge accountability. The political friction intensified hours after the Centre unceremoniously transferred CBSE Chairman Rahul Singh (IAS) and CBSE Secretary Himanshu Gupta (IAS) out of the national educational board. The government has replaced them with Lokhande Prashant Sitaram as the new CBSE Chairperson and Varun Bhardwaj as the new Board Secretary.

In a statement posted on social media platform X, Gandhi labeled these sudden transfers a tactical "cover-up" rather than an honest effort toward systemic reform. He noted that while the CBSE Chairman and Secretary were transferred and a one-member inquiry committee was formed, the Education Minister remained safe in his position. He emphasized that removing officials while sparing the minister does not constitute genuine accountability. CBSE Chairman Rahul Singh and Secretary Himanshu Gupta Transferred Over OSM Portal Fiasco.

Demands for Independent Judicial Inquiry

The senior Congress leader reiterated the opposition’s demand for a comprehensive probe into the board's functioning, calling for the immediate removal of the Education Minister. He emphasized that the unfolding situation directly jeopardizes the futures of millions of school students across the country. Gandhi stated that the core demand for the dismissal of the Education Minister and an independent judicial inquiry remains unchanged. He added that if Prime Minister Narendra Modi genuinely cared about the 18.5 million CBSE students, Pradhan would have been removed from his post long ago.

The On-Screen Marking (OSM) Row

The political storm comes in the wake of severe nationwide backlash over the CBSE's newly implemented digital infrastructure. For the 2026 Class 12 board examinations, the board rushed to roll out a fully digital On-Screen Marking (OSM) system to grade nearly 10 million answer scripts. Under this setup, physical answer sheets are scanned so examiners can grade them directly on a computer screen.

However, the full-scale rollout resulted in widespread chaos as thousands of students and parents reported massive discrepancies. The technical failures included blurred and unreadable digital scans of answer sheets alongside entire pages missing from evaluated scripts. Furthermore, some candidates were shown answer books belonging to completely different students, while others discovered serious mismatches where the uploaded copies did not align with their actual handwriting. CBSE OSM System Row: Class 12 Student Sarthak Sidhant Appears Before Parliamentary Panel, Flags Alleged Tender Irregularities (Watch Video).

'This Is A Cover-Up'

The controversy deepened over the procurement process itself, as the Rs 100-crore digital contract was awarded to Hyderabad-based vendor Coempt Edu Teck, formerly known as Globarena Technologies. The firm allegedly had a history of data processing failures during a similar on-screen evaluation exercise in Telangana in 2019. Opposition leaders and student bodies allege that strict tender guidelines regarding the blacklisting of firms were modified shortly before the contract was officially signed.

Government Orders High-Level Probe

Attempting to defuse the growing public anger, the Cabinet Secretariat has constituted a high-level, one-member inquiry committee to investigate the technical failures and the procurement process of the OSM services. The probe is being headed by S. Radha Chauhan, a retired IAS officer and current chairperson of the Capacity Building Commission. The panel has been directed to submit its findings to the Department of Personnel and Training within one month, while sources indicate that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is personally monitoring the situation.

Re-Evaluation Process Extended

Amid the ongoing investigation, the CBSE announced that its online result re-evaluation and verification portal will remain operational until midnight on June 6, 2026. This window provides affected candidates a final opportunity to submit their examination papers for official review. According to guidelines, a digital fee of Rs 100 per answer book has been fixed for verification-related issues, while specific re-evaluation requests will cost Rs 25 per question. To streamline transparency and prevent further system load, the board is strictly accepting digital modes of payment, including UPI, net banking, and credit or debit cards.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 02, 2026 09:42 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).