The Congress party is facing strong criticism for holding a convention near a NEET examination centre in Bengaluru, leading to the allegations that the event caused severe traffic congestion and delayed students attempting to reach the venue. Videos of students crying outside the examination centre after being denied entry have gone viral on social media. However, the party has maintained that the students missed the examination for different reasons and accused the BJP of spreading “half-truths and manufactured outrage”.
On June 21, a convention was held at Palace Grounds to mark MLC BK Hariprasad assuming charge as the Karnataka Congress president. The event coincided with the NEET-UG examination conducted on the same day.
According to reports, more than one lakh party workers arrived from across Karnataka in around 1,200 buses, leading to heavy traffic congestion on major roads in the city.
The examination centre, Government Ramnarayan Chellaram College, is located around 3 km from Palace Grounds.
One video showed three female students crying standing before the closed gates. These students will lose an academic year.
The incident has triggered criticism of the Congress, which had earlier criticised the National Testing Agency (NTA) and the Union government over the NEET question paper leak that led to the cancellation of the May 3 examination and its rescheduling to June 21.
According to eyewitnesses, a final warning was broadcast through the campus public address system at 1.29 pm and the gates were shut at 1.30 pm. Videos shared on social media show the three female candidates, who appeared to have arrived a few minutes late, climbing over the gates and compound walls only to find the inner doors closed. They were later seen climbing back out of the premises. A fourth candidate arrived a couple of minutes later and also missed the examination.
Speaking to the media outside the examination centre, a group of men questioned the Congress’s decision to organise a large convention close to the venue.
“Because of Rahul Gandhi’s political functions, today four students have missed their exam. Who is answerable to them?” one of the parents said.
Another man criticised the traffic management arrangements. “There is not one policeman standing here at the signal, even if at least one policeman was present to clear the traffic, we could have (asked them to clear traffic) … All of them (police) are at the rally,” he said.
Reacting to the incident, BJP MP Tejasvi Surya criticised the Congress for holding the convention on the same day that thousands of students were appearing for the NEET examination.
“As massive traffic disruptions choked Bengaluru, many students were delayed, some reaching exam centres in panic and having to plead with authorities to be allowed inside. Thankfully, examination authorities accommodated them and provided compensatory time,” he said on X.
He also criticised Rahul Gandhi for “shedding crocodile tears over students and examinations. Had his concern been genuine, his party would have avoided holding a mega political rally in the heart of the city at the exact time of one of India’s most important entrance exams,” referring to Gandhi’s visit to Kota in Rajasthan.
Several senior Congress leaders, including Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and others, attended the convention.
However, Karnataka Home Minister Priyank Kharge dismissed Tejasvi Surya’s remarks, describing them as “half-truths and manufactured outrage”.
In a post on X, Priyank Kharge said that 142 of the 720 students allotted Government Ramnarayan Chellaram College as their examination centre were absent.
While acknowledging that three students had missed the examination, he said that one student travelling from Magadi was unable to get a bus on time and reached the centre late, resulting in her missing the test.
Another candidate arrived with an old hall ticket issued for the examination conducted on May 3, 2026, and was therefore not permitted to write the examination.
According to Kharge, only one candidate travelling from the RT Nagar side missed the examination, and the exact reason for the delay was still being ascertained.
Priyank Kharge further said that Tejasvi Surya was “conveniently silent when his own incompetent government allowed more than 22 lakh students to suffer due to NEET mismanagement, paper leaks and chaos, with over 10 students reportedly dying by suicide”.
This story was written by a student interning with TNM.