Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, meeting families in Mahabalipuram near Chennai on 1 August, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi should apologize to the country's students and that students had no need of the prime minister's pardon.
He said nothing was more painful than the tears of parents who had lost children, and that every young life lost leaves a family carrying lifelong grief.
Gandhi argued that the NEET question paper leak, the cancellation of the exam, and years of preparation destroyed overnight exposed a collapsing education system.
He alleged that a dishonest system expects honesty from students while showing no honesty toward them.
Gandhi's comments were a response to Modi's recent remark that he would 'forgive' students who criticized him.
He also criticized Modi for not visiting or consoling those whose futures were ruined by the paper leak or families mourning children.
He accused the central government of failing completely to grasp the suffering of students and their families.