Rahul Gandhi on Sunday met a group of Class XII students who are victims of the CBSE’s new digital evaluation system, describing them as “brave young Indians” who had asked the Narendra Modi government simple questions but received “insults instead of answers”.

The students included Vedant Shrivastava, who first flagged the alleged swap of answer sheets because of which he got poor marks in physics. Vedant has faced vicious online trolling, including being called “Pakistani agent” and “anti-national”.

Rahul, the leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, posted a video on X about his conversation with the students on the “on-screen marking (OSM)” fiasco.

“A revealing chat with my fellow ‘anti-national Soros agents’. Vedant and his friends are brilliant, brave young Indians who asked CBSE and the Modi government simple questions — but got insults instead of answers. They deserve a bright and secure future. We will make sure they get it,” the Congress leader wrote.

Vedant told Rahul that he had done well in the physics exam, yet got poor marks.

Showing Rahul photocopies of the answer sheets he received, Vedant said: “We had the opportunity to apply for photocopies of the answer sheets. When I opened the photocopy, I found a mismatch in my handwriting. The front page had my handwriting. Inside, it was somebody else’s. I realised it was not my answer sheet. I raised it on X. A lot of people supported us.”

His brother Siddhant said the issue created an uproar and they faced abuse on social media. “They started calling us anti-national and Pakistani, deep state agents, Soros agents,” he said.

Rahul broke into laughter and told the cameraperson to turn the focus towards the students, adding sarcastically “17-year-old terrorists”. He asked the youngsters what “deep state” meant and also referred to George Soros, the 95-year-old American investor and philanthropist often accused by the Right-wing ecosystem in India of trying to destabilise the country.

“That is crazy. You have nothing to do with anything. You are asking for your answer sheets, that’s all. Now suddenly you have become anti-nationals,” Rahul told the students.

Referring to the government, the Congress MP said: “You have to accept the problem if you have to solve the problem. You are refusing to accept the problem and blaming the poor kids and saying ‘you are deep state, you are spies, terrorists’.”

In another post, Rahul criticised the CBSE for the poor scanning of answer sheets by the service provider, COEMPT.

“CBSE’s May 2025 tender required answer sheets to be scanned with automatic robotic scanners, spines preserved, at a minimum of 300 DPI. The tender re-issued in August quietly removed all of it. ‘Scanners’ became generic. Resolution dropped to 200 DPI. Now we know what that meant in practice,” he wrote.

BJP leader Amit Malviya accused Rahul of “using students to whitewash his sins”.

“No amount of grandstanding will ever erase his attempts to seek foreign intervention in India’s internal matters. Neither will it negate the fact that he routinely meets foreign elements inimical to India’s interests.

“Nor can it wash away the uncomfortable reality that George Soros, who funds the global loony Left ecosystem and has openly vowed to unseat India’s democratically elected government, has long viewed Congress and its leadership as convenient instruments to further his agenda,” he posted on X.

“Students deserve answers, not political exploitation. Before posing as their champion, Rahul Gandhi should explain his own record.”