India, July 24 -- Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's remarks on exam paper leaks have sparked a political controversy, with Congress leader Supriya Shrinate criticising her comments and accusing her of being insensitive towards students affected by the issue.

In an interview with news agency ANI, Sitharaman seemed to suggest that while the paper leak initially affected students who had worked hard for their examinations, some candidates used the extra time before re-exams to strengthen their preparation.

"There are young people who are coming out and saying, 'Yes, first it sort of hurt me when the paper leakage happened. But later I took advantage of that and prepared even more and my performance has improved.' So there are you...