Uttarakhand BJP chief Mahendra Bhatt apologises over remarks on students

DEHRADUN: Uttarakhand BJP chief Mahendra Bhatt on Sunday apologised over his alleged remarks about students, saying that if anyone’s sentiments were inadvertently hurt by any word or its pronunciation in his statement, he regretted it.

Bhatt said in a post on Facebook, “If anyone’s sentiments were inadvertently hurt by any word or the pronunciation used in my statement yesterday, I regret it and offer my apologies. It was not my intention to hurt anyone’s sentiments.”

The apology came after Uttarakhand Congress president Ganesh Godiyal criticised Bhatt over his alleged remarks on students amid the ongoing controversy surrounding examination irregularities and the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

Godiyal, in a post on X, accused Bhatt of using “abusive language” against students and said his remarks reflected his sentiments towards the people of Uttarakhand. Sharing a video, Godiyal said, “He is calling students, using an abusive term for them, saying those who were sitting at home, what did they have to do with this matter. This shows how much Mahendra Bhatt ji is hurt by Dharmendra Pradhan ji’s resignation.”

Godiyal also demanded an apology from Bhatt and warned of an indefinite protest by students outside his residence if he failed to apologise. “Before this matter escalates further, I hope you apologise for it and ask for forgiveness. And if you don’t do it, I call upon all the youth and students that from tomorrow, they will stage a dharna protest in front of your house for an indefinite period until you apologise,” Godiyal said.

भाजपा अध्यक्ष महेंद्र भट्ट जी का छात्रों को अपशब्द कहना यहां के लोगों के प्रति उनकी भावनाओं को दर्शाता है। इससे ये प्रतीत होता है कि धर्मेंद्र प्रधान के इस्तीफे से भट्ट जी बहुत आहत हैं। pic.twitter.com/eMfb8GxpBa

— Ganesh Godiyal (@UKGaneshGodiyal) July 25, 2026

The controversy comes amid widespread protests over irregularities in the NEET-UG examination and demands for accountability in the examination system.

Separately, an alleged question paper leak at Veer Madho Singh Bhandari Uttarakhand Technical University (UTU) recently led to the cancellation of two B. Tech semester examinations.

Dehradun Police registered an FIR and arrested Ashish Kumar Gupta, an assistant professor at Shivalik College of Engineering, who was part of the team responsible for setting the question paper for the Machine Learning for Internet of Things subject.

According to police, the probe found that several questions in the examination matched those that had earlier been shared in a WhatsApp group associated with the college. Dehradun Senior Superintendent of Police Pramendra Dobhal said the accused had breached examination confidentiality.

The police registered a case at Premnagar Police Station under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) pertaining to criminal breach of trust, cheating and criminal conspiracy. The paper leak controversy in Uttarakhand comes amid the wider debate over examination irregularities following the NEET-UG paper leak, which had triggered protests across the country. (ANI)