The Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) on Wednesday targeted the Maharashtra government over the alleged paper leak of Higher Secondary School (HSC) exams, saying a new trend of passing exams illegally has begun in the state.

An editorial in Saamana, the mouthpiece of Sena (UBT), said all results, right from the judiciary to the Election Commission, have been leaked, an indirect reference to the poll body’s decision to allot the ‘Shiv Sena’ name and its ‘bow-and-arrow’ symbol to rival and Chief minister Eknath Shinde.

The editorial said that questions have been raised over the educational degrees of a few senior BJP leaders.

“Since the new government has taken over in the state, there is a trend of illegally passing exams in the state,” it said in an apparent jibe at the government led by Eknath Shinde, whose coup toppled the Thackeray-helmed Maha Vikas Aghadi government last year.

It asked when the “real culprits” will be probed.

“When there is an incompetent government, non-serious education minister, and lax administration, then the state will be destined to have papers leaked,” the editorial said.

It added that a trend of paper leaks has begun in the last seven to eight months since the new government came to power.

A police case was registered in Buldhana district last week after the HSC Mathematics question paper leaked and its images went viral on social media, an official had said.

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