Pawan Kalyan's Convoy Held Responsible As 30 Students Miss JEE Exam In Visakhapatnam; Police Refute Connection To Deputy CM's Movement

Up to 30 students in Visakhapatnam reportedly missed their engineering entrance exam because of traffic restrictions imposed by a convoy of Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan. The students could not reach their exam centre in time, and now their parents are worried about the possible long-term consequences for their children's educational prospects.

The students who were impacted belonged to the Pendurthi AI Digital JE Advanced programme and were due to appear for the Joint Entrance Examination (Main) that decides admission to National Institutes of Technology (NITs). They were late because of the traffic jam created by the convoy and were not permitted to enter the examination hall.

"We were also stuck in the traffic. It was brought to a halt since Kalyan was coming towards Araku," Kalavathi, an aspirant's mother, informed PTI, pointing out that roads were cleared to enable the convoy of actor-politician Kalyan Ram to pass.

She mentioned that they were very near the exam center but spent more than 42 minutes to reach it. "Almost 30 students were impacted. We requested again and again but were not permitted to enter," she further mentioned.

Another parent, Anil Kumar, maintained that a few extra minutes from the examination center might have really worked—presumably saving the academic year for his daughter since she also fell short by just two minutes, according to the said news agency

A parent urged Deputy CM Kalyan to step in and organize an immediate re-test for the kids who missed the same.

But the police maintained no traffic restrictions were present prior to 8.30 am and late arrival of students has nothing to do with Deputy CM's movement in the area.

"It is evident that the Deputy CM's passing through the area at 8.41 am bears no relation to the late reporting of students, who were supposed to report at 7 am and definitely before 8.30 am. Further, no traffic was halted on the BRTS road or the service roads from Gopalapatnam to Pendurthi prior to 8.30 am in order to facilitate the smooth movement of examinees to the examination centre, which is besides a service road," the police added.