Pune: A day after chief minister Devendra Fadnavis’s statement that the state’s biggest paper leak took place under Uddhav Thackeray’s MVA govt in 2021, Shiv Sena (UBT) hit back, claiming that the TET paper leak scam began in 2018-19 when Fadnavis was the chief minister, and was exposed by MVA in 2021.Fadnavis on Thursday said that the TET paper-leak scam in the state was when Uddhav was the chief minister and that it was the state’s biggest examination scam.Shiv Sena (UBT) on Friday claimed that scamsters involved in the 2021 TET paper leak began spreading their network during Fadnavis’s first tenure as the chief minister.“When Uddhav Thackeray became the chief minister, he gave free hand to all the officers, as a result of which the TET paper scam was unearthed,” Sushma Andhare, deputy leader of Shiv Sena (UBT), told reporters in Pune on Friday.She said the software agency, already blacklisted in Karnataka, was hired by Maharashtra govt to conduct the examination. “The private firm was roped in in 2018 when Fadnavis was chief minister and Vinod Tawde was the education minister. The tainted firm was given the responsibility of conducting the examination by the Fadnavis-led govt.”In 2021, the state govt made several arrests after finding out that the TET paper was leaked. Andhare said, “Action in the paper-leak case was taken when Uddhav Thackeray was the chief minister. The firm’s owner Pritish Deshmukh and more than 40 people were arrested. Jobs of over 3,500 candidates who used unfair means to clear the test were cancelled. It included the daughter of the then minister Abdul Sattar.”She accused the BJP of supporting the paper-leak accused. “A key accused in the paper leak case, Abhijeet Savrikar, was inducted into the party by its state president Ravindra Chavan. IAS officer Sushil Khodwekar, who was also arrested in the case, was reinstated by the Mahayuti govt. It shows that the BJP supports those responsible for the paper leak. Therefore, Pradhan (Union education minister) has not been removed from his ministry even after such a massive protest,” Andhare added.
