Ex-BJP MP blames paper leak for party's defeat in Uttar Pradesh

Former BJP MP from Kannauj, Subrat Pathak, has said that paper leak was "the most important" reason for BJP's poor show in Uttar Pradesh in the Lok Sabha elections.

Subrat Pathak lost to Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav from Kannauj.

In a series of posts on X, Pathak, while accepting that paper leaks had become endemic in India and the education system had been ruined by corruption, highlighted efforts by BJP governments in the state and at the Centre to correct the system.

On the other hand, he slammed political parties which, according to him, "protect this corrupt education system while raising questions on the paper leak".

Pathak said besides a strong political will, the support of opposition parties was also required to combat the paper leak.

"Paper leak in police recruitment in Uttar Pradesh is not new. Gradually, paper leaks in various examinations across the country have become a part of our lives," he said, adding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government had already passed a strict law to check this.

"What is the reason that such incidents happen again and again, and our system seems helpless?" Pathak asked.

He said the British had left corruption "in our roots" and it had slowly become a "part of our society".

"Under the patronage of our country's corrupt political leaders, this corruption entered our education system as well and ruined it completely," he added.

Students from the poor and weaker sections had to bear the brunt of this entire system, he said.

While copying in school exams was institutionalised, college admissions could be secured with money, or degrees could simply be bought, while paper leak was the recourse taken in competitive and recruitment exams, Pathak added.