Omar Abdullah Counters JP Nadda on J&K Paper Leak, Says Minister ‘Got the Date Wrong’
New Delhi: The political debate over examination paper leaks intensified on Thursday after Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah publicly challenged Union Minister JP Nadda’s remarks regarding the Jammu and Kashmir Service Selection Board (SSB) paper leak case.
The exchange comes amid nationwide discussions over alleged exam irregularities, with the issue dominating both Parliament and public discourse.
During a press conference on Wednesday, JP Nadda responded to Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi’s claim that more than 150 paper leaks had occurred over the last decade without a single conviction. In his response, Nadda listed several paper leak incidents that took place under Congress-led governments and their allies, including one in Jammu and Kashmir.
Referring to the SSB recruitment paper leak, Nadda stated that the incident occurred when the Union Territory was governed by the National Conference (NC)-Congress alliance.
However, Omar Abdullah quickly disputed the claim, saying that while the paper leak incident did occur, the Union Minister had mixed up the timeline and the government in power.
In a post on X, Abdullah wrote that the paper leak happened in 2022, when Jammu and Kashmir was under Lieutenant Governor’s administration and directly governed by the Centre—not by the National Conference-Congress alliance.
“You are absolutely correct about the SSB paper leak in J&K, but you have got the date wrong. It was 2022. The government wasn’t of NC and Congress. It was a government headed by the Lieutenant Governor,” Abdullah wrote, adding that the remark had unintentionally reminded people of what he described as an administrative failure.
Strengthening his argument, the Chief Minister also shared excerpts from the Jammu and Kashmir High Court’s observations on the case. The High Court had directed the administration to form a high-level committee, headed by a retired High Court judge, to investigate the conduct of the Jammu and Kashmir Service Selection Board following the paper leak controversy.
Abdullah questioned what became of that committee and its findings, suggesting that the Union Minister provide an update during a future press conference.
The political exchange comes at a time when the paper leak issue has become a major national controversy, with Opposition parties demanding greater accountability and reforms to restore confidence in India’s examination system.
Jammu and Kashmir returned to an elected government in 2024, after nearly a decade without Assembly elections. The National Conference-Congress alliance secured victory in the polls, and Omar Abdullah took oath as Chief Minister in October 2024.
News source: Information for this article was gathered from a variety of reliable news outlets.
