Jairam Ramesh mocks Telegram ban, calls it another NEET crisis 'stunt' by centre

New Delhi: Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Wednesday took a swipe at the Centre after it temporarily restricted access to Telegram, saying the move is only to be added to a long list of other "stunts" that have preoccupied the Narendra Modi government since the cancellation of the NEET-UG exam last month. The Congress general secretary in-charge communications said it is far more important to ban the teleprompter (than Telegram).

"The Prime Minister's go-to man on all scientific matters and a very distinguished mathematician otherwise is being held to account by Gen Z youngsters," Ramesh said. These are the pitfalls of allowing yourself to become a drum-beater of a government that is incompetent, arrogant and more interested in stunts than in actual governance, he said.

"The Telegram ban is only to be added to a long list of other stunts (IAF transportation of question papers, the announcement that the PM is personally monitoring the situation) that have preoccupied the Modi government since the cancellation of the NEET-UG exam last month. It is far more important to ban the Teleprompter," Ramesh said.

Also read Delhi HC seeks centre's reply on Telegram plea against NEET re-exam access restrictions

Instant messaging app Telegram has stopped working for existing users in India after the government temporarily restricted access to the app, but it continues to remain operational through Virtual Private Network (VPN). Google delisted the app on Tuesday, and Apple's App Store has also removed it now in compliance with the government order to block access to the app ahead of the NEET-UG 2026 re-examination scheduled to be held on June 21.

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov criticised the restriction on the messaging app in India, saying, "Banning it, even temporarily, is a mistake." In a post on X, Durov said, "India's IT ministry banned Telegram for one week because some users shared leaked exam questions. This punishes 150M+ ordinary Telegram users in India -- not the insiders who leaked the exam materials. "And the ban hasn't stopped anything. The leaks just moved to other apps."