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Correspondent

23 August 2024 at 4:29:04 pm

Trust Reset

As the recent protests over the NEET paper leak showed, India’s examination system has reached a point where incremental repairs are no longer enough. The appointment of a high-powered task force on examination reforms, headed by technology pioneer Nandan Nilekani, is therefore not merely an administrative response to the NEET-UG paper leak crisis but a concrete attempt to rebuild confidence in one of the country’s most important public institutions. Examinations are gateways to opportunity,...

Trust Reset

As the recent protests over the NEET paper leak showed, India’s examination system has reached a point where incremental repairs are no longer enough. The appointment of a high-powered task force on examination reforms, headed by technology pioneer Nandan Nilekani, is therefore not merely an administrative response to the NEET-UG paper leak crisis but a concrete attempt to rebuild confidence in one of the country’s most important public institutions. Examinations are gateways to opportunity, social mobility and professional ambition. For millions of students across the country, a competitive examination represents years of sacrifice by families and the possibility of a better future. When question papers leak repeatedly, evaluation systems fail or allegations of manipulation emerge, the resulting damage strikes at the idea of fairness itself. The crisis surrounding NEET-UG exposed uncomfortable vulnerabilities in the country’s examination infrastructure. The resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and the subsequent appointment of Pralhad Joshi with additional charge of the ministry underlined the political seriousness of the issue. But political accountability alone cannot fix a structural problem. That is why the composition of the new task force is a move on the right direction. It brings together expertise from technology, space research, intelligence, education administration and logistics. Nilekani’s appointment is particularly significant. The former Infosys chief executive and architect of Aadhaar has experience in building large-scale digital public infrastructure involving hundreds of millions of citizens. The Aadhaar project itself was born out of a similar challenge: how to create a reliable identity system in a country where leakages and duplication weakened welfare delivery. India’s examination system now requires the same kind of thinking. The committee’s mandate to examine the entire examination lifecycle - from question paper creation and distribution to candidate verification, evaluation and results - is the right approach. The problem lies in multiple weak points where human intervention, poor security protocols and outdated processes can create opportunities for malpractice. Technology will inevitably be central to the solution. Artificial intelligence can help detect unusual patterns, blockchain-based verification can strengthen record security and better data systems can improve transparency. But a secure examination system requires independent oversight, professional management, clear accountability and swift punishment for wrongdoing. India’s National Testing Agency was created to bring efficiency and standardisation to public examinations. Its credibility must now be restored through reforms that are visible and trusted by students. The Nilekani task force has been given the difficult job of repairing that trust. The government has chosen a committee led by people with experience of managing complex national systems. It is a sensible first step. The real test will now be whether its recommendations translate into action.

Muslim League Challenged Congress High Command

New Delhi: The power equation that emerged between the Congress party and the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) during the selection of Kerala's Chief Minister has revived an old question in Indian politics that Is the Congress still compelled to make key political decisions under pressure from its Muslim allies? The results of the May 2026 Kerala Assembly elections and the developments that followed have given fresh momentum to this debate.


In Kerala, the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) secured a sweeping mandate, winning 102 out of 140 seats and crossing the two-thirds majority mark. The Congress itself won 63 seats, while its ally, the Indian Union Muslim League, secured 22 seats. Of the 35 Muslim MLAs elected to the Assembly, 30 belonged to the UDF alliance, including 8 from the Congress and 22 from the IUML. This arithmetic ultimately became central to the power balance within the coalition.


The contest for the Chief Minister's post came down to K.C. Venugopal, considered close to the Congress high command, and V.D. Satheesan, the former Leader of Opposition. In the end, the Congress leadership was forced to endorse Satheesan. Political circles openly discussed the possibility that if the IUML and its supporting legislators firmly backed Satheesan, any resistance from the Congress high command could have jeopardized the party's return to power in Kerala.


According to political observers, members of the Nehru-Gandhi family reportedly held multiple conversations with IUML president Prof. K.M. Kader Mohideen, general secretary P.K. Kunhalikutty, and senior leader and MP E.T. Mohammed Basheer, urging them to support Venugopal's candidature. Yet the Muslim League leadership reportedly refused to relent.


Striking Aspect

Perhaps the most striking aspect of the episode was the appearance of posters in Wayanad. The posters warned Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi that if the "choice of the high command" was imposed on Kerala, Wayanad could become "the next Amethi." Some posters even described K.C. Venugopal as "Rahul Gandhi's bag carrier." The message was unmistakable that in Kerala's political landscape, local equations and the influence of the Muslim League had become more powerful than directives from Delhi high Command. Ultimately, the Congress high command appeared to have little choice but to yield.


Wayanad itself carries deep symbolic significance. Rahul Gandhi won the Lok Sabha seat from Wayanad in 2019, and the constituency later became politically important for Priyanka Gandhi Vadra as well. The IUML wields considerable influence in the region, which is precisely why the Congress leadership seemed unwilling to risk a confrontation.


In reality, this is not merely a Kerala story. Recent Assembly election data indicate that Muslim representation within the Congress's political structure has grown significantly. In Assam, 18 of the Congress party's 19 winning candidates were Muslims. In West Bengal, both seats won by the Congress were secured by Muslim candidates. In Tamil Nadu, one Muslim Congress candidate emerged victorious. In Kerala, meanwhile, the influence of Muslim legislators within the UDF has reached a decisive level.


This is why the BJP and its supporters have long accused the Congress of engaging in what they describe as "Muslim appeasement." Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself had earlier referred to the Congress manifesto as bearing "the imprint of the Muslim League." The Congress has consistently rejected these allegations, but the Kerala developments have undoubtedly handed fresh ammunition to its political opponents.


Lucknow Pact

The history of Congress-Muslim League relations has also remained deeply controversial. In the 1916 Lucknow Pact, the Congress accepted the Muslim League's demand for separate electorates, a move often seen as the formal beginning of communal political representation in India. In subsequent years, the Congress's support for the Khilafat Movement, its repeated attempts at accommodation with Muhammad Ali Jinnah, and its strategies during the politics of Partition (of India) all invited, intense scrutiny and criticism.


Even after Independence, ties between the Congress and the Muslim League never completely disappeared. Since the 1960s, the Congress and the IUML have maintained a durable electoral alliance in Kerala. Muslim League leaders continued to enjoy representation in government and ministerial positions. The Congress defended this arrangement as a necessity of coalition politics and social representation, while critics viewed it as an ideological compromise.


Contemporary Kerala appears to be the latest expression of this long political tradition. The Congress leadership, despite its preferences, could not install its chosen candidate as Chief Minister. V.D. Satheesan gained the advantage largely because he was perceived as a grassroots leader with stronger equations with the IUML. In contrast, K.C. Venugopal came to be seen as "High Command's candidate."


The episode also signals a deeper transformation within the Congress party itself. The once-dominant "high command model" now appears increasingly weakened, which historically exercised sweeping control over state units and leadership changes. Regional leaders and religious-social equations are exerting far greater influence. For perhaps the first time so visibly, the political limitations of Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi have come into public view.


"The League is being attacked as part of a hate campaign to create a divide in Kerala. My question to the people of Kerala is - if IUML is weakened, who will step into that vacant space? Communal forces will occupy that space. So, the League is a political party preventing that from happening. Those opposing it should understand that.”

V D Satheesan, CM-designate, Kerala

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