Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari warned of sit-in demonstrations outside the State Education Department headquarters at Bikash Bhavan from next week if the State government does not initiate college admissions and publish pending exam results by the end of this week (August 24, 2025).

On Monday (August 18, 2025), Mr. Adhikari headed a delegation of 15 Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislators to meet Governor CV Ananda Bose and submitted a memorandum seeking his urgent intervention in the prolonged delay in the publishing of results of the West Bengal Joint Entrance Examination (WBJEE).

WBJEE, an entrance exam for undergraduate engineering, technology, architecture, and pharmacy courses in West Bengal’s State-run and State-aided universities, was conducted on April 27, but the results have been delayed, likely because the matter surrounding the State’s Other Backward Classes (OBC) reservation list is currently being heard by the Supreme Court.

“It has been three months [since examinations have been concluded], yet first-year admissions have not yet begun. JEE results have not been declared. This is a very serious issue. Nearly 5 lakh candidates and their guardians are very worried. They are suffering… If college admissions do not start by this week and the JEE results are not published, BJP MLAs will hold dharnas in front of Bikash Bhavan from next week,” Mr. Adhikari said after meeting the Governor.

Police detain Students Federation of India (SFI) activists took part in a protest rally against State Government Bhawan during their march to Bikash Bhawan over merit list for admission to college after higher secondary is not out yet and the results of the Joint Entrance Examination are not out issue, at Salt Lake in Kolkata on Aug 19, 2025.
| Photo Credit:
DEBASISH BHADURI

In West Bengal, 8,200 educational institutions shut down last year, Mr. Adhikari said. He also accused West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of trying to privatise higher education in the State.

“The delay will lead to drop [in] student turnout as many may be forced to reluctantly seek opportunity outside Bengal. In addition to the worst hit future of lakhs of meritorious students, the reputation of the educational institution in West Bengal [gets] hit which will reduce the number of students as they will go outside in huge number,” the memorandum to the Governor dated August 18, 2025, reads.

Meanwhile, the West Bengal government’s Directorate of Medical Education, in an ‘urgent notice’ on August 18, announced that the counselling and admission process for medical and dental courses under National Eligibility cum Entrance Test Undergraduate (NEET UG) 2025 “has been kept under abeyance till further order.”

“The future of the state’s medical students has been pushed into darkness. Why was the admission counseling, once started, suddenly halted indefinitely? Is this yet another attempt to appease narrow political interests by granting undue privilege to a particular group under the guise of reservation?” Union Minister and BJP MP Sukanta Majumdar questioned on Monday, referring to the order.

On Tuesday, August 19, 2025, activists of the Students Federation of India (SFI) staged a demonstration near Bikash Bhavan to protest against the delay in WBJEE results and the deferment of MBBS and BDS counselling. Several protestors were detained as the police disrupted SFI’s protest march to Bikash Bhavan.