Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday (June 17, 2026) slammed the government after it temporarily restricted access to Telegram, saying the “new trick” was akin to putting a lock on the victim’s house instead of catching the thief.

Telegram has stopped working for existing users in India after the Centre temporarily restricted access to the messaging app ahead of the June 21 NEET-UG re-examination, but it continues to remain operational through the Virtual Protocol Network (VPN).

Google delisted the app on Tuesday (June 16, 2026), and Apple’s Appstore has also removed it now in compliance with the government order to block access to the app.

In a post in Hindi on X, Mr. Gandhi said, “Telegram Ban — Modi government’s new trick to stop paper leaks. Meaning, instead of catching the thief, just put a lock on the victim’s door.”

“Lakhs of students have been studying on Telegram for years — notes, test series, discussions, preparation. How does snatching that facility become the solution to paper leaks? And it’s not even foolproof – every student in the country knows this, and so does the paper leak mafia. So, who will the next ban be on? WhatsApp?” he said.

“On exam day, students will be frisked. Pockets will be cut open with scissors. Question papers will be sent via the Air Force. There won’t be any shortage of theatrics. But not a single strike at the root of the disease — because the paper leak mafia is thriving under this very government’s watch and making the youth weep tears of blood. Modi Ji — drop the theatrics. Strike at the mafia, not the students,” he said.

Listen to the “Chhatron ki goonj (echo of students)” — or else the youth of the country know how to claim their rights, Mr. Gandhi said.

In another post in Hindi, the leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha said he has set out for Kota, but two names are echoing in his heart — Umesh and Riya.

“Yesterday, Umesh in Sikar and Riya in Dehradun—both ended their lives under the pressure of Re-NEET. 22- and 23-year-old kids—who were meant to soar in the open skies of their dreams—lost to this unjust system. These deaths are the result of a broken, corrupt system,” he said.

“And the ones responsible are the Modi government and Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who, instead of protecting students, have repeatedly shielded paper leaks, exam mismanagement, and the destroyers of futures,” he alleged.

“Today, from Kota, we will begin that fight with just one goal—that no child’s dreams shatter like this again, that no parent ever has to lose their child in this way again. Every family’s pain will now echo across the country as the ‘chhatron ki goonj’,” Mr. Gandhi said.

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said Rahul Gandhi has rightly stated that there is a need to strike not against students, but against mafias.

“Today, there are many such things in the country’s education system and the entire examination system will need to be reformed,” she told reporters in New Delhi.

The government on Tuesday (June 16, 2026) temporarily restricted access to the Telegram ahead of the NEET-UG 2026 re-examination, with the National Testing Agency (NTA) saying the measure is aimed at tackling cheating rackets and misinformation.

NTA Director General Abhishek Singh said the restriction on Telegram till June 22 is part of efforts to ensure that the June 21 retest is conducted without malpractice.

“We will not let anything go wrong. We will take all possible actions to ensure that the examination is conducted without any malpractice,” Mr. Singh had told PTI, when asked about the move.

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov criticised the restriction on the app in India, saying, “Banning it, even temporarily, is a mistake.” In a post on X, Mr. Durov said, “India’s IT ministry banned Telegram for one week because some users shared leaked exam questions. This punishes 150M+ ordinary Telegram users in India — not the insiders who leaked the exam materials. And the ban hasn’t stopped anything. The leaks just moved to other apps.”