The Punjab Vidhan Sabha on Monday unanimously passed a censure resolution against the BJP-led Centre over recurring examination paper leaks, alleged recruitment irregularities and the reported crackdown on student protests across the country. The move, seen as part of the AAP government’s outreach to young voters ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections, also hailed Gen Z for bringing an “arrogant government and ruler” to its knees.The resolution, moved by Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema, transformed the Assembly into a platform for attacking the Centre on an issue the ruling party believes resonates strongly with youth appearing for competitive examinations, unemployed youth and government job aspirants. The House condemned “the excessive use of force, arbitrary detention and criminal prosecution of peacefully protesting students and citizens, including educationist-innovator Sonam Wangchuk, for exercising their democratic right to peaceful protest”.The members of the House, barring Congress and BJP MLAs who had left the House when the resolution was moved, expressed unwavering solidarity with the students and called for withdrawal of all criminal proceedings against them.Participating in the debate, members condemned the “frequent examination scandals and recruitment failures”, while criticising the alleged use of pellet guns and tear gas shells against students protesting the NEET paper leak in Delhi.Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann led the charge, citing repeated instances of examination paper leaks since the BJP came to power at the Centre in 2014. “Since 2014, 93 paper leak cases have come to light, while 65 such cases were reported between 2019 and 2024 — mostly in the BJP-ruled states. In Punjab, not a single case of paper leak has taken place since AAP came to power. Wherever we learnt about suspected cheating, we immediately cancelled the examination. And look at what the BJP did after the Union Education Minister was forced to resign… they showered flowers on him the very next day. The fast-track courts promised by them are an eyewash. We demand that all cases registered against protesting students be withdrawn,” he said.Mann also questioned the Prime Minister’s educational credentials, alleging that while the government was busy rewriting history, it had failed to protect the future of students.Cheema described paper leak rackets as flourishing under the BJP and claimed the refusal of nearly 2.50 lakh candidates to appear in the NEET re-test reflected a collapse of trust in the examination system. He accused the Centre of responding to students’ demands with police action rather than accountability and sought that the Assembly’s resolution be forwarded to the Prime Minister’s Office, the Union Home Ministry and the Union Education Ministry.The debate, which saw participation from ministers Harjot Singh Bains, Aman Arora and Dr Balbir Singh, besides MLAs Gurpreet Singh Banawali, Amritpal Sukhanand, among others, was marked by repeated attempts by the treasury benches to project the issue as one of democratic rights rather than merely examination malpractice.Harjot Bains said students who gathered at Jantar Mantar had assembled “for India and not against India”, arguing that dissent should not be equated with anti-national activity. Calling for sweeping reforms, he demanded the creation of a new education commission, saying policymakers owed an apology to students for failing to protect the integrity of the education system.The Opposition, while backing the resolution, turned the spotlight back on the Punjab Government. Manpreet Singh Ayali, a rebel Shiromani Akali Dal MLA now with the Akali Dal Waris Punjab De, supported the motion but accused the AAP government of adopting double standards by cracking down on protesting sanitation workers and MGNREGA employees in Punjab.“In a democracy, everyone has a right to protest,” he said. Ayali also praised the management of Gurdwara Rakabganj in Delhi for sheltering, nursing and feeding students after a police crackdown.