Rahul Gandhi on Monday defended a Class 12 student who complained about an alleged answer script mismatch and the CBSE’s on-screen marking system (OSM), accusing BJP supporters and right-wing social media users of targeting the teenager instead of addressing his concerns over evaluation errors.

Highlighting that this was the “first time in decades” that questions were being raised over CBSE board exams, Rahul said, “The Modi-Shah duo has turned yet another institution into a symbol of rigging,” in a post on X.

The controversy erupted after the student, identified as Vedant Shrivastava, claimed on X that he had received unexpectedly low marks in Physics and sought photocopies of his answer sheets through the CBSE re-evaluation process.

Vedant claimed that the Physics answer sheet uploaded by the board did not belong to him, while his English and Computer Science scripts matched his handwriting.

He also shared images of the three answer scripts to support his claims. He urged the board to verify his original physical answer sheet, review the scanning and tagging process, and investigate whether answer sheets were mismatched during digitisation.

The issue triggered criticism from several students over the transparency and reliability of the OSM-based digital evaluation system introduced by the CBSE.

Backing the student, Rahul said, “A 17-year-old boy, whose answer sheet was wrongly evaluated, turned to social media in hope of justice. But instead of help, he got abuse.” He alleged that BJP’s IT cell branded the student “anti-national” and part of the “Deep State” for raising questions over the evaluation process.

The student was also targeted online after screenshots of his X profile showed the account region as Pakistan, prompting some users to label him “Pakistani”.

Vedant’s brother Siddhant Shrivastava had shared a video claiming the account region could not be changed because of a glitch. After certain users posed questions over the timing of creating the X account, Siddhant said the profile had been created to raise “genuine issues” related to the CBSE evaluation process.

Jairam Ramesh also criticised the Centre and the CBSE over the implementation of the on-screen marking system, alleging that the new process had led to blurry answer sheets, incorrect assessments, mismatched booklets and other irregularities affecting students across the country.

He claimed the Class 12 pass percentage had dropped from 88 per cent to 85 per cent and questioned why the CBSE and the education ministry failed to anticipate technical problems before rolling out the system.

“The minister owes the nation their resignation to the Prime Minister,” Ramesh said while demanding accountability over the handling of the issue.

AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal criticised Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the alleged irregularities in the CBSE evaluation system, demanding his immediate resignation and accusing the Centre of jeopardising the future of lakhs of students.

Kejriwal alleged in a video message posted on X that students and parents across the country were under immense stress because of problems in the evaluation and re-evaluation process, including malfunctioning portals and blurred scanned answer sheets.

Pradhan is also facing intense Opposition criticism and public scrutiny over the NEET-UG paper leak controversy, with the recently viral Cockroach Janata Party listing the minister’s resignation among its prime demands.

“First NEET and now CBSE. Pradhan does not deserve to be the education minister for even a day,” the former Delhi chief minister said.

Kejriwal also urged the CBSE to reduce re-evaluation fees and ensure speedy manual rechecking so students could secure college admissions without delay, while accusing the Centre of subjecting children to “trauma” because of an “incompetent and useless” education minister.

Besides on-screen marking and reevaluation, erratic fee calculations have been massively flagged by students and parents. Reports say the portal allegedly showed random re-evaluation charges ranging from ₹1 to nearly ₹70,000 per subject.

Students also complained about server crashes amid heavy traffic, payment failures where money was deducted without confirmation, and poorly scanned or illegible answer sheets.

Following the widespread outrage and anxiety, the Union education ministry intervened, after which the CBSE extended application deadlines and assured automatic refunds to students who were wrongly overcharged.

The board has announced it will engage IIT-Madras and IIT-Kanpur experts to address technical challenges in its post-result services portal.