Priyanka Gandhi Vadra launched a sharp attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, saying that changing camera angles in videos would not be enough to win back the confidence of India’s Gen Z. Speaking during a debate on the Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026, the Congress MP said the government must instead address the concerns of young people who have faced repeated disruptions, alleged paper leaks and uncertainty over competitive examinations.
“If you want to win over the Gen Z, then making videos with different camera angles will not help. The prime minister needs to change the angle of his heart, not the angle of cameras,” Priyanka Gandhi said in the House.
Her remarks came as Parliament resumed a discussion on the proposed legislation after a week-long logjam. The debate focused attention on India’s examination system, the recurring allegations of paper leaks and the growing frustration among students preparing for some of the country’s most competitive examinations.
Priyanka Gandhi argued that the government needs to acknowledge the problems faced by young people rather than relying only on communication and image-building efforts. She said students and young job aspirants have lost faith in the examination system and demanded that the government take responsibility for what she described as injustices faced by the youth.
“Injustice has been done with youths under your government, accept the truth. Prime Minister Narendra Modi must take responsibility,” she said.
The Congress leader also strongly criticised the government’s handling of student protests. She questioned the use of force against demonstrators and asked Prime Minister Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah to explain who authorised the use of tear gas, lathis and, as she alleged, pellet guns and AK-47s against protesting students.
“I want to ask PM Modi, HM Shah, what was the need to teargas, lathi-charge students, use pellet guns, AK-47,” she said during her address.
Priyanka Gandhi further questioned whether the protesting students had been treated as if they were a threat to the country. She asked whether the government was afraid of young people who had taken to the streets to express their anger and frustration.
The Congress MP said the students had raised questions about the examination system and demanded accountability from those responsible for alleged irregularities. According to her, removing students from the streets would not resolve the issues that had brought them there in the first place.
“Every ‘lathi’ blow on any boy or girl, hit the government’s prestige more than the back of students,” she said. “Students can be removed from streets but not their questions.”
Her speech came against the backdrop of renewed political debate over examination reforms and the government’s efforts to strengthen laws against unfair practices in public examinations. The issue has become increasingly important for millions of students who depend on competitive examinations for admission to educational institutions and recruitment to government jobs.
Priyanka Gandhi claimed that the country’s examination system had failed to protect students from repeated paper leaks. Citing figures during her speech, she said there had been 152 paper leaks over the past 10 years and alleged that no major examination mafia had been punished.
She also raised questions about the implementation of the existing anti-paper leak framework. Referring to the law passed in 2024, she claimed that there had not been a conviction under the legislation and criticised the functioning of fast-track courts and the prosecution process in cases involving examination irregularities.
The Congress leader’s remarks reflected a broader opposition argument that passing legislation alone would not be enough to restore confidence among students. The opposition has repeatedly demanded stronger enforcement, transparent examinations, predictable schedules and strict action against those involved in leaking question papers.
The discussion in the Lok Sabha followed a week of disruptions in Parliament, with the House finally taking up the Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026. Union minister of state in the Prime Minister’s Office, Jitendra Singh, defended the government’s record on examination reforms and said the Modi government had completed the long-pending task of introducing legislation to prevent malpractice in public examinations.
The government has maintained that stronger legal provisions are necessary to protect students and ensure fairness in recruitment and admission examinations. The proposed amendments are part of a wider effort to address concerns over organised cheating, question paper leaks and other forms of unfair means that can affect the credibility of public examinations.
The political disagreement, however, goes beyond the wording of the proposed law. For the opposition, the central question is whether students can trust the examination system and whether authorities can act quickly when irregularities occur. For the government, the legislation represents an attempt to create a stronger legal framework to deter organised malpractice.
Priyanka Gandhi used her speech to connect the examination crisis with the wider concerns of India’s young population. She argued that the government must listen to students and recognise the anger behind their protests rather than dismissing their concerns.
Her reference to Gen Z was particularly significant because young voters and students have become an increasingly important part of India’s political conversation. The Congress leader suggested that younger Indians are capable of scrutinising political messaging and distinguishing between promises and reality.
“If you want to win over the Gen Z, then making videos with different camera angles will not help,” she said, directly targeting the Prime Minister’s communication strategy.
The comment quickly became one of the most striking moments of her speech, turning a debate over examination reform into a broader political argument about trust, accountability and the relationship between the government and young citizens.
Priyanka Gandhi also demanded answers over the government’s response to students who protested against issues surrounding examinations and education policy. She said students had expressed their pain through demonstrations and had sought action against those accused of wrongdoing.
She questioned why force was necessary to control such protests and asked who had authorised the use of weapons and other measures that she alleged were deployed against demonstrators. Her remarks are likely to intensify the political debate over the treatment of student protesters and the government’s approach to demonstrations.
The Congress MP’s intervention also came at a time when the government is attempting to reinforce its position on examination reforms. The passage and implementation of laws against unfair practices have become a key issue following several high-profile controversies involving competitive examinations across the country.
For students, the stakes remain high. A paper leak can force thousands or even millions of candidates to repeat an examination, disrupting academic plans and creating additional financial and emotional pressure. The uncertainty can also affect students who spend years preparing for a single opportunity.
The debate therefore carries significance beyond the immediate political confrontation in Parliament. It raises questions about how India can build an examination system that students consider transparent, reliable and fair.
The government has argued that legal action and stronger enforcement can help deter organised malpractice. The opposition, meanwhile, has pressed for greater accountability and demanded that agencies act swiftly against those responsible for leaks and irregularities.
As the Lok Sabha debate continues, the discussion is expected to remain closely linked to the concerns of students and young job aspirants across the country. The challenge for policymakers will be to ensure that the law is backed by effective enforcement and that examination bodies can prevent leaks before they occur.
Priyanka Gandhi’s speech placed the issue of student confidence at the centre of the political debate. Her message was that the government cannot resolve the crisis simply by changing its public communication or controlling protests. According to the Congress leader, it must address the underlying grievances of young people and demonstrate through action that the examination system can be trusted.
Her sharp criticism of Prime Minister Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, combined with her remarks about Gen Z and student protests, ensured that the parliamentary debate became more than a discussion about amendments to an examination law. It became a wider political argument over how the government responds to India’s youth, how it handles dissent and whether it can restore confidence in a system on which millions of students depend.
The coming months will determine whether the proposed legal changes can deliver the stronger safeguards the government promises and whether they can address the concerns raised by students and the opposition. For now, the political battle over examination reform has placed the voices of young Indians firmly at the centre of Parliament’s debate.