The reports of Assamese language question paper of the High School Leaving Examination (HSLC) Class 10 leaking is extremely unfortunate, said Assam MLA and Raijor Dal chief Akhil Gogoi on Friday.

This comes after the Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma advised the Board of Secondary Education, Assam (SEBA) to reschedule the paper based on the confession of an accused, arrested for leaking the General Science question paper of the ongoing HSLC exam earlier which caused a massive uproar in the state.

Akhil Gogoi, who is a vocal critic of the government, took to Twitter to say, “It is extremely unfortunate that this time the Assamese language paper has also been leaked. The chief minister has directed SEBA to reschedule this paper as well.”

“We have come to know about the General Science question paper leaking. Later it came to the fore that the Mathematics paper was also leaked. And now, it has been revealed that the Assamese paper has also been leaked. In light of that the chief minister has advised rescheduling of the paper,” he said.

Attacking the education department of the state government, Gogoi said, “The entire incident of HSLC paper leak just proves that the education department is taking the matter lightly and playing with the future of the students.”

Based on the facts at hand, it is clear that education minister Ranoj Pegu should resign from his post for his inability to curb the menace, said Akhil Gogoi. “It's a matter of deep shame that Assamese paper has been leaked. Is it truly a conspiracy to destroy the Assamese vernacular medium? @ranojpeguassam please resign,” he wrote on Twitter.

Meanwhile, the politics over the HSLC paper leak case has escalated with the opposition cornering the ruling party over the issue. Speaking about it, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Diganta Kalita said, “People have the right to criticize us, but yesterday’s event will definitely usher in changes in SEBA.”

On the other hand, the Leader of Opposition in the Assam Assembly and Congress MLA Debabrata Saikia said, “The chief minister only gives speeches about reform. But when we say it, they term it to be dirty politics. The people should protest against this. Children of many SEBA officials who are studying in schools repeatedly score poor marks, but they go on to perform exceptionally in the board exams.”

Meanwhile, BJP’s ally in Assam, Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) MLA Ramendra Narayan Kalita said, “It is a matter of great concern when a teacher turns into a criminal. It is dangerous. This act goes against the nation and hence, the accused should be arrested and should be handed the harshest of terms under the NSA Act.”