New Delhi, May 25 -- As the row over CBSE's On-Screen Marking (OSM) system escalates, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday alleged that the "Modi-Pradhan duo" has turned yet another institution into a "symbol of malpractice" and accused the government of defaming and intimidating anyone who asks questions.

AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal also attacked the Centre over the issue, calling Union Education minister Dharmendra Pradhan "incompetent and useless". He also demanded Pradhan's resignation over the alleged irregularities in the OSM system.

The Opposition leaders' remarks came after some Class 12 students alleged that the scanned copies of their answer sheets uploaded by the board did not match their handwriting, raising concerns over possible answer-sheet mismatch in the OSM system.

CBSE sources said the board is treating all complaints on top priority.

In a detailed post on social media, a Delhi-based student identified as Vedant alleged that the Physics answer sheet uploaded by the CBSE under the re-evaluation process was not his own.

The Vedant's post, which garnered over 2.5 million views on X, said he and his family discovered that the handwriting in the Physics answer sheet provided by CBSE did not match his own.

Several social media handles, however, initially trolled him, questioning whether the newly-created handle was actually of a CSBE student, with some even calling him "anti-national" and "Pakistani", but others, including Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi, came to his defence.

Gandhi said the truth is that the Modi government "fears" the youth and Gen Z because they are now asking questions.

"The Modi-Pradhan duo has turned yet another institution into a symbol of malpractice. For the first time in decades, such serious questions have been raised regarding the CBSE board examinations. 18.5 lakh students appeared for the exams -- yet for over a week, complaints regarding OSM errors, incorrect marking, and evaluation irregularities have gone unheard, while the Education minister clings to his chair," he said in a post in Hindi on X.

The leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha pointed out that a 17-year-old student, whose answer sheet was "incorrectly" evaluated, took to social media in the hope of finding justice.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.