Aditya DidwaniyaCongress leader Rahul Gandhi fired a fierce political salvo at Prime Minister Narendra Modi accusing the government of allowing “massive tampering” in CBSE Class 12 board exam results. He raised four pointed questions about a contract given to firm COEMPT, demanded a judicial probe and an SIT investigation. But as the political storm raged, CBSE pushed back with a denial and at least one key claim Gandhi made turned out to be misleading.
A Student’s Shocking Discovery Set Everything Off
It started with a single social media post and snowballed into one of the biggest education controversies of 2026. Class 12 student Vedant Shrivastava posted on X, alleging something disturbing. The Physics answer sheet uploaded under his roll number on CBSE’s portal showed completely different handwriting. The answers weren’t his. His family and teachers spotted the mismatch comparing it against his English and Computer Science papers. He questioned whether his real answer sheet had ever reached the examiner’s desk at all. “I am awarded 50% marks for the answers written by some other student. Where is my real answer sheet?” he wrote.
His post touched a raw nerve. Thousands of other students flooded social media with similar complaints about CBSE’s new On-Screen Marking system, popularly called OSM. Portal crashes, payment glitches during re-evaluation requests, and mismatched scanned answer copies the complaints poured in. For 18.5 lakh students who appeared in the Class 12 boards this year, anxiety spiked sharply.
Rahul Gandhi Enters the Fray With Four Questions
Congress leader and Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi moved swiftly. He released a video statement, posted it on X and went straight for the jugular. He called it a “deliberate conspiracy” and alleged “massive tampering” in the CBSE Class 12 results. He pointed fingers directly at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the PM had “nothing to say” while students and parents suffered.
But Gandhi’s most pointed attack centred on one specific company COEMPT the firm awarded the contract to run CBSE’s digital answer-sheet evaluation system. He posed four questions sharp, specific, and designed to embarrass:
“First, why and by whom was COEMPT given the CBSE contract? Second, which procedures were circumvented to give COEMPT this contract? If we could figure out in 30 seconds that this company earlier had a different name, why didn’t the CBSE figure this out and why were there no background checks done? Third, and most important what is the exact relationship between the COEMPT management and the Modi government?” Gandhi said in his video statement.
He demanded both an independent judicial inquiry and a Special Investigation Team probe urging students and parents to share his video widely and press the government for answers.
The COEMPT Angle and What the Records Show
Gandhi alleged that COEMPT had previously operated under the name Globarena Technologies and that the company was linked to serious controversies in Telangana as far back as 2019. He claimed the same OSM-based errors during Telangana’s 2019 Intermediate Board exams were linked to the suicides of 23 students a tragedy that shook the state. He also alleged a repeat controversy involving the same firm in 2023.
A 19-year-old ethical hacker named Nisarga Adhikary had already identified Coempt EduTeck as the vendor behind CBSE’s OnMark digital evaluation platform. Official documents pointed to the connection though CBSE hadn’t publicly confirmed the vendor’s name.
Coempt EduTeck formerly Globarena Technology Pvt Ltd had indeed faced scrutiny over its handling of previous digital evaluation contracts, including one for CHSE Odisha and the 2019 Telangana Intermediate Board. Questions were raised in those cases over subcontracting practices and execution standards.
CBSE Hits Back Calls the Globarena Claim Misleading
CBSE did not stay quiet. On May 27, the board posted a firm rebuttal on social media. “CBSE has followed the General Financial Rules protocols scrupulously in the awarding of the contract to the agency. CBSE floated the RFP for Digital Evaluation of Answer Books for Board Exams 2026 on the Central Public Procurement portal on 28.08.2025 and awarded the contract to the qualified bidder,” the board stated.
The board also denied any security breach in the OSM portal clarifying it was examining student concerns and following established verification protocols. Officials maintained all necessary steps were underway.
Crucially on at least one specific claim Gandhi made fact-checkers and the board flagged it as misleading. The direct link between Globarena and the 2019 Telangana student deaths, as characterised in Gandhi’s framing, was contested. The controversy in Telangana did exist and was serious but Gandhi’s characterisation reportedly stretched the facts in ways the record does not fully support.
Gandhi Escalates Says ‘A Denial Is Not an Answer’
CBSE’s rebuttal didn’t slow Gandhi down. He shot back hard with a second post that doubled down on the pressure. “A denial is not an answer. Why are the Education Minister and CBSE unable to answer the four simple questions I have asked? The future of 18.5 lakh students have been put in jeopardy. They deserve the truth,” Gandhi wrote.
The opposition closed ranks with multiple parties demanding transparency in the examination system. Students and parents across the country waited anxiously for something more than a bureaucratic denial.
The Bigger Political Battle
The CBSE OSM controversy landed right in the middle of a charged political season. For Gandhi and the opposition, it offered a ready narrative the Modi government protecting a connected firm while students suffered. For the government, the board’s response was the official position process followed, no breach, qualified bidder selected.
What isn’t disputed students did face real problems. Answer sheet discrepancies were reported. The OSM portal did have technical issues. The re-evaluation process caused real distress. And COEMPT whatever name it operated under before did have a history that raised questions worth answering.
Whether those questions get answered in a courtroom, an SIT office or simply die down as the political cycle moves on remains to be seen.
Akshay Didwaniya
The BRICS Times
Pratik Agrawal
Mayur Mohta
