Amidst allegations of irregularities in the NEET examination results, the Congress party has been accused of spreading, endorsing fake news and amplifying the falsehoods of a NEET student who is allegedly exploiting the genuine concerns of the student community to gain popularity. Notably, several Congress leaders and state social media units have peddled claims of tampering with the OMR sheet of one NEET aspirant Ayushi Patel, a resident of Lucknow.
Patel has been in the news for her bizarre claims earlier too. In 2020, she made headlines for claiming that she had discovered a vaccine (for COVID) formula “in her mind.”
Days after NEET aspirants flagged irregularities in marking and alleged paper leak, on 10th June, senior Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra shared a video of Ayushi Patel without checking the veracity of her claims. Likewise, the Kerala Congress also shared her video and repeated her allegations to attack the newly elected NDA government.
NEET जैसी परीक्षाओं में लाखों बच्चे मेहनत से तैयारी करते हैं और अपनी जिंदगी के सबसे कीमती पल इस तैयारी में लगाते हैं। पूरा परिवार इस प्रयास में अपनी श्रद्धा और शक्ति डालता है। लेकिन साल दर साल इन परीक्षाओं में पेपर लीक, रिजल्ट से जुड़ी गड़बड़ियाँ सामने आई हैं।
— Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi) June 10, 2024
क्या परीक्षा कराने… pic.twitter.com/mcHwsVb4IH
This is Ayushi Patel from Lucknow. This was her third attempt of NEET. After the exam she checked the answer key published and calculated that she got a score of 715/720. This means she must have a rank below 100. This means that she was one of best in the country.
— Congress Kerala (@INCKerala) June 10, 2024
Her result… https://t.co/B1ghZQkJRk
Pertinently, in her video statement, Patel claimed that the National Testing Agency, the nodal agency responsible for conducting examinations in India, sent her an email informing her that her OMR sheet was damaged. According to her, the email conveyed that her result could not be generated because the NTA found her OMR sheet torn and damaged. She brazened her allegation stating that her OMR sheet appeared to be ‘deliberately torn.’ However, she stated that the answers she submitted during the examination were visible on the damaged OMR sheet and they totaled 715 out of 720 marks.
She said, “After hearing this, me and my family were shocked. My family saved me from depression. It looks as if the OMR has been deliberately torn. The bubbles (student’s responses to examination questions) are clearly visible and on matching them with the official answer key, my NEET score comes out to be 715 out of 720. We have filed a petition in High Court which is slated to be heard on Tuesday. This was my third attempt. I scored 535 marks on my first attempt and 570 marks on the second attempt.”
She further stated that with the help of her uncle who is a lawyer, they responded to the NTA mail and got to see her OMR.
Speaking with India Today, Ayushi Patel further alleged that her OMR sheet was tampered (with). She said, “Even if this is a scanned image, the thumbprint here is blue which is not possible it should have been black so it’s clear my OMR has been manually tampered (with).” Her claims have been widely covered by mainstream media.
Watch why a Lucknow resident Ayushi Patel alleges a 'NEET scam' 2024 after NTA finds her OMR 'torn' #NTA #NEET #NewsMO pic.twitter.com/XZGqIRn9jc
— IndiaToday (@IndiaToday) June 10, 2024
However, NTA has categorically refuted her claims and allegations of OMR tampering and her OMR being torn. They also denied sending any torn OMR answer sheet as claimed by Ayushi Patel.
— National Testing Agency (@NTA_Exams) June 10, 2024
Taking to its official X handle, NTA stated, “Regarding the viral video featuring Ms. Ayushi Patel, claiming discrepancies in NEET (UG) 2024 scoring and receiving of the torn OMR Answer Sheet, NTA clarifies that no torn OMR Answer Sheet was sent via an official NTA ID. OMR Answer Sheet is intact and Scores are accurate as per official records.”
Trying to gain cheap and instant popularity over a serious student issue?
Meanwhile, several X users shared her NEET examination results and accused Patel of exploiting the genuine concerns of NEET aspirants to gain cheap popularity and media limelight by claiming fake victimhood. Several users also slammed Congress for promoting fake news and imposters who exploit the genuine concerns of people for their selfish agendas.
Popular X user, Eminent Intellectual wrote, “Her OMR is intact and she scored only 365, not 715. There are genuine issues with NEET but Congress ONLY promotes fake news and fraudsters. Amazing.”
Her OMR is intact and she scored only 365, not 715. There are genuine issues with NEET but Congress ONLY promotes fake news and fraudsters. Amazing 🙏 pic.twitter.com/zz4by0VwWs
— Eminent Intellectual (@total_woke_) June 11, 2024
Some users slammed Ayushi Patel for exploiting the NEET irregularities row and urged everyone to spare the hardworking students from politics or exploitative tactics.
Liar Ayushi Patel
— Arshad Ali (@aliarshadsir28) June 10, 2024
Sab bahti ganga me haath dho rahe.
Please spare genuine and hardworking students please pic.twitter.com/cAe4xf9CkG
Incidentally, NEET aspirant Ayushi Patel was earlier accused of making bizarre claims to garner media limelight. Four years ago, during the COVID pandemic, she made headlines for claiming that she had found the “formula for vaccine” in her mind.
"One day my father asked a something related to Corona and I couldn't answer. I was disheartened. So I studied deep. One day suddenly the formula of vaccine strike in my mind" ~ Ayushi Patel in Oct'20.
— The Hawk Eye (@thehawkeyex) June 11, 2024
The same girl today is going viral for faking NEET score. And Priyanka Gandhi… pic.twitter.com/IhGjbuX31a
A video of from October 2020 has surfaced online after she made allegations of tampering with her OMR sheet which the NTA has refuted. In the October 2020 video, she says, “One day my father asked something related to Corona and I couldn’t answer. I was disheartened. So I studied deeply. One day suddenly the formula of vaccine strikes in my mind.”
It is notable here that no vaccine has just a “chemical formula” per se. Vaccines are developed by a complex biopharmaceutical process that involves isolating an inactive immunogenic component from the pathogen and developing it in laboratories in injectable or oral form. It takes rigorous research and development to develop a vaccine that is stabilised through large-scale production, transport, and administration. It takes months, even years to develop a vaccine that can be safely injected to a large population.
For those unversed, the NEET UG 2024 results have sparked widespread controversy and debate, with suspicions of inflated marks and other anomalies. Following the release of the National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test (NEET-UG) results on 4th June, which announced that as many as 67 students received a perfect score of 720/720 marks to share the All-India Rank (AIR) 1, a large number of medical aspirants and their parents raised numerous concerns about glitches, alleged malpractices, ambiguous implementation of grace marks, above all an alleged paper leak. It is notable that 23,33,297 candidates from all over India appeared for the prestigious exam this year.
Meanwhile, genuine concerns about irregularities in the NEET examination results have also reached the Supreme Court. Hearing the matter, the apex court has sought answers from the testing agency stating that the sanctity of NEET-UG 2024 has been affected.
