NEET exam delay: Bengaluru Police refute Congress rally link, cite facts

Bengaluru Police refuted claims a Congress rally caused a NEET student to miss the exam. A fact-check revealed the student departed late, took a longer route, and arrived 3 minutes past the cut-off, with no significant traffic from the event.

Bengaluru City Police and Bengaluru Traffic Police on Tuesday refuted the allegations that a Congress rally at Palace Grounds caused a NEET (UG) candidate to miss the examination on June 21 due to a delay.

Police Fact-Check Details Candidate's Journey

Based on CCTV footage, interaction with the candidate and parents, and route analysis, Bengaluru Traffic Police released a "fact-check" and concluded that traffic congestion from the public event did not lead to the delay. The aspirant departed from home only 33 minutes before the prescribed cut-off time and selected a longer travel route. The timeline established through CCTV analysis showed that the candidate departed from residence in RT Nagar at 12:57 pm, and reached the examination centre at 1:33 pm, three minutes after the prescribed time.

The police found, "CCTV footage and route analysis confirm the candidate left home only 33 minutes before the prescribed cut-off time. The candidate took a longer route, despite the availability of a shorter route that could have enabled quicker travel. Traffic conditions on the day were generally normal, with no significant congestion attributable to the public event. Traffic police personnel deployed on the route were seen facilitating the candidate's movement wherever required."

Political Reactions and Clarifications

"Based on CCTV footage, interaction with the candidate and parent, and route analysis, the available evidence does not indicate that traffic congestion caused by the Public Event led to the delay," Bengaluru City Police said. "The delay was not caused by traffic congestion arising from the Public Event," the statement added.

The fact-check comes after social media posts that alleged that students missed the NEET exam due to traffic snarls caused by the Congress rally at Palace Grounds on Sunday. BJP National Spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP Sudhanshu Trivedi also launched a scathing attack on the Congress, accusing it of "prioritising politics over the future of students."

On Monday, Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge dismissed claims that a Congress rally hindered students appearing for the NEET-UG 2026 re-examination in Bengaluru. Asserting that only three students at a designated centre missed the test due to individual circumstances, Kharge said, "Three students missed writing the exam. Out of the three students, one student missed the bus in Magadi, which is in the opposite direction from where the Congress rally was taking place. Another student had brought an old hall ticket. One more student who was coming from RT Nagar also missed taking the exam." (ANI)

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