Amid the ongoing row over the CBSE On-Screen Marking (OSM) system, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi took a potshot against the government, announcing his meeting with a group of students who have been targeted as “anti-nationals” and “deep state agents” online. In a video shared on X, the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha shared his interaction with the students and demanded a bright and secure future for them.
In the post on X, the Congress leader who had demanded an independent judicial probe into the OSM row earlier, wrote, “Vedant and his friends are brilliant, brave young Indians who asked CBSE and the Modi government simple questions — but got insults instead of answers,” while also describing the interaction as “revealing chat with my fellow ‘anti-national Soros agents’.”
One of the students, Vedant of Class 12, had alleged in a post on X that the Physics answer sheet uploaded by the CBSE under the revaluation process was not his and the post went viral on social media. Vedant’s post prompted other students to raise similar issue and CBSE later reached out to them and shared their correct answer sheets.
Watch video
A revealing chat with my fellow “anti-national Soros agents.”
Vedant and his friends are brilliant, brave young Indians who asked CBSE and the Modi government simple questions – but got insults instead of answers.
They deserve a bright and secure future. We will make sure they… pic.twitter.com/5InBxgJv1B
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) May 31, 2026
The students narrated their ordeal to Gandhi and the 55-year-old joked about how they were labelled “Pakistanis” and “deep state agents” after raising what he called legitimate concerns and issues.
“You are students. You are asking for your answer sheets, that’s all. Now, suddenly, you have become anti-nationals. You have to accept the problem if you have to solve the problem. You are refusing to accept the problem and blaming the poor kids and saying ‘you are deep state, you are spies, terrorists’,” Gandhi says in the video,
“Were you also called terrorists? Tell me!” Gandhi asks Vedant, his brother and other students in the 90-second clip. In the middle of the interaction, Rahul jokingly tells the cameraperson: “Bhaiyya, show the faces of these ‘terrorists’!”
Rahul Gandhi during his interaction with CBSE students. (PTI)
Rahul Gandhi questioned Coempt, firm behind paper evaluation
Last week, Rahul had alleged that the CBSE chose a company that “had already pulled off the same deed in Telangana in 2019” under a different name for the on-screen evaluation. “The company Coempt (Edu Teck), which was handed this responsibility (on-screen marking), had already pulled off the same deed in Telangana in 2019 under the name Globarena. Name changed — but the intent the same, the nature the same. Everyone knew the history, yet the contract was still awarded… This isn’t a mistake—it’s a deliberate conspiracy,” Rahul wrote on X. The CBSE later rejected the allegation, terming those “erroneous, misleading, and not based on facts”.
Rahul questioned why the contract was given to the company Coempt, “on whose orders”, “which rules were bypassed to award this contract”, “why weren’t background checks done”, and “what is the connection between Coempt’s management and the (Narendra) Modi government”.
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The OSM row
The CBSE introduced the OSM system for Class 12 exams for this year’s examination of over 98 lakh answer books and as per the system, answer sheets were scanned and later marked digitally on a portal by evaluators.
CBSE had issued a statement saying the contract was awarded to Coempt Edu Teck, Hyderabad and said: “CBSE has followed the General Financial Rules protocols scrupulously in the awarding of the contract to the agency. CBSE floated the RFP ( Request for Proposal) for digital evaluation of answer books for board exams 2026 on Central Public Procurement portal on 28.08.2025 and awarded the contract to the qualified bidder.”
CBSE’s Gen Z comrades — your hard work, your future, no one will be able to steal it. We will dig to the root of this conspiracy and uproot this corruption once and for all,” the statement said.
What is the Telangana connection?
In 2019, the Indian Express had reported that Telangana Intermediate Board Examination, over 3 lakh out of the 9 lakh students who appeared for the Class 12 exams were marked as failed, and a committee constituted by the state government to look into the issue had said the evaluators were under duress to complete the job quickly, which may have led to discrepancies in the results.
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The Indian Express had also reported then that the committee had blamed Globarena Technologies for “minor technical mistakes’’. The company was involved then in the processing of results, and digitisation of marks.
Apart from the alleged discrepancies in results, students faced issues while applying for answer books and making payments and to resolve the technical issues, CBSE has roped in IIT Kanpur and IIT Madras. Four public sector banks — Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank and Indian Bank — have also been entrusted with assisting the board with its payment gateway and ensuring that automatic refunds are made for extra payments.
