Uttarakhand BJP chief Mahendra Bhatt apologises after remarks that sparked student backlash

On Sunday, Mahendra Bhatt, the BJP state president of Uttarakhand, posted a brief apology on Facebook, saying he regretted any hurt caused by his words. “If anyone’s sentiments were inadvertently hurt by any word or the pronunciation used in my statement yesterday, I regret it and offer my apologies,” he wrote, adding that hurting anyone’s feelings was never his intention.

The apology came after a sharp rebuke from Congress president Ganesh Godiyal. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Godiyal accused Bhatt of hurling an “abusive term” at students, suggesting the leader was reacting out of anger over Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s recent resignation. He even attached a video clip, claiming Bhatt had dismissed students who stayed home, calling them out in a harsh manner.

Godiyal didn’t stop at criticism. He warned that if Bhatt refused to apologise, students would stage an indefinite dharna outside his house. “Before this matter escalates further, I hope you apologise for it and ask for forgiveness. If you don’t, I call upon all the youth and students to protest in front of your house until you do,” he wrote.

The row is playing out against a larger backdrop of unrest over examination irregularities. Across the country, protests have flared up over alleged leaks in the NEET‑UG exam, and Uttarakhand is no exception. Adding fuel to the fire, a separate scandal erupted at Veer Madho Singh Bhandari Uttarakhand Technical University (UTU), where two B.Tech semester papers were cancelled after an alleged question‑paper leak.

Police in Dehradun registered an FIR and arrested Ashish Kumar Gupta, an assistant professor at Shivalik College of Engineering, who was part of the team that set the Machine Learning for Internet of Things paper. Investigators say several questions matched those shared in a WhatsApp group linked to the college, breaching exam confidentiality. The case has been logged under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita dealing with criminal breach of trust, cheating and conspiracy.

Both the student‑remark controversy and the UTU paper‑leak scandal have heightened calls for greater transparency in Uttarakhand’s education system. While Bhatt’s apology may calm the immediate tension, the broader demand for accountability – whether it’s the handling of NEET‑UG, the resignation of a senior minister, or the integrity of technical examinations – remains very much alive.