Uttarakhand BJP chief Mahendra Bhatt apologises after his comments on NEET‑protesting students sparked backlash

On Sunday, Mahendra Bhatt – the state president of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Uttarakhand – posted a short video on social media, apologising for comments he made the previous day about students protesting the NEET question‑paper leak saga. He said, "If any word or the way I phrased my statement yesterday inadvertently hurt anyone’s sentiments, I regret it and offer my apologies." He added that hurting anyone’s feelings was never his intention.

The controversy erupted after a clip of Bhatt’s remarks circulated online on Saturday. In the clip, he appeared to dismiss the concerns of thousands of students and youth who were demanding a probe into alleged irregularities in the NEET exam and a recent question‑paper leak involving Uttarakhand Technical University. The Congress party slammed the video as an insult to the youth and demanded an unconditional apology.

Uttarakhand Congress president Ganesh Godiyal, speaking to reporters, said Bhatt’s statements reflected his frustration over the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who stepped down amid the leak controversy. Godiyal warned that if Bhatt did not apologize, students would stage a sit‑in protest outside his residence.

Bhatt, for his part, later released another video insisting that his words had been taken out of context. He claimed he never used the language attributed to him and that the opposition was deliberately distorting his remarks. BJP state media in‑charge Manveer Singh Chauhan echoed the same, saying the comments were being misinterpreted.

The row comes at a time when the Uttarakhand government is under pressure over alleged exam irregularities. Apart from the NEET paper‑leak case, there have been accusations of foul play in recruitment tests, prompting the ruling party to highlight its "zero‑tolerance" policy on question‑paper leaks and cite recent arrests under a strict anti‑cheating law.

While the BJP tries to contain the fallout, the incident has reignited the broader debate about transparency in examination processes and the political handling of student protests in the state.