Congress, the BJP and the Shiromani Akali Dal have all sharpened their attacks on the Bhagwant Mann government, calling for Punjab Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains and Health Minister Balbir Singh to step down. With Assembly elections already looming over Punjab's political calendar, opposition parties are framing a simple question: if the Centre can remove its own minister over paper leak allegations, why can't Punjab do the same?

Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring welcomed Pradhan's resignation as a victory for young people's struggle, and used the moment to demand that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and Bains resign as well, arguing the same standard of accountability applied nationally should apply in Punjab. Warring listed a string of alleged paper leaks during the AAP government's tenure — covering a pharmacy recruitment exam, the Class 12 English exam, Group-B recruitment papers, the Naib Tehsildar recruitment exam, the Agriculture Officer recruitment exam, and a pharmacist recruitment exam conducted by Baba Farid University of Health Sciences. He alleged that whenever young people raised their voices against these irregularities, the Mann government responded with police batons rather than addressing their concerns, and recalled that senior AAP leader Manish Sisodia had once claimed a responsible minister would be forced to resign if exam papers leaked in Punjab. Warring said it has been six months since the Group-B paper leak with no accountability fixed, and warned that if the education minister doesn't resign, Congress would take to Punjab's streets the way protesters have in Delhi.

The BJP joined the push through Delhi minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa, who accused AAP and Arvind Kejriwal of double standards, asking why leaders who actively support student protests in Delhi stay silent on Punjab's own students. Sirsa also invoked CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke's past promise to raise his voice over any paper leak in Punjab, arguing the moment has come for that commitment to be honoured.

The Akali Dal took a similarly aggressive line, with its leaders arguing that AAP demands swift resignations whenever paper leaks occur in other states or at the Centre, while staying completely silent when its own state's exam system repeatedly fails. Akali MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal accused the government of gambling with young people's futures, saying Punjab has seen six exam scandals in four and a half years, leaving roughly five lakh young people in limbo. She directly named Kejriwal and Mann in her criticism, arguing both bear full responsibility and should dismiss both the education and health ministers.

Congress and the Akali Dal separately pointed out that AAP leaders, including Kejriwal, have been visible at Delhi's Jantar Mantar protests criticising the Centre over the NEET paper leak, while remaining quiet on Punjab's own recruitment exam failures — a contrast opposition parties are using to accuse the party of applying one standard to itself and another to its rivals.

The Punjab government has not issued any official response to the resignation demands so far. With opposition pressure building from three directions simultaneously and elections approaching, the paper leak issue looks set to become a significant flashpoint in Punjab's political conversation in the days ahead.