YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) president Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has demanded a CBI probe into the alleged irregularities in the DSC-2025 teacher recruitment process and resignation of HRD Minister N. Lokesh.

“Cockroaches do not come without reason. They appear only when systems are spoiled. Even a person like me can become a cockroach,” Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy said at a press conference here on Thursday, alleging that the recruitment system had been allowed to deteriorate and that more irregularities would come to light.

The DSC-2025 was not a Mega DSC and that unemployed youth and genuine candidates had been cheated, the former Chief Minister alleged.

Questioning the decision to entrust the preparation of the question bank and supervision of the examination to the same individual, he alleged that the arrangement compromised transparency. He also referred to allegations by candidates that question papers were sold.

Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy alleged that 39 teacher posts had been filled without examination under the sports quota. He cited certificates purportedly showing the candidates’ participation in a 2013 Senior Inter-District Judo Championship in Khammam, and claimed that the Telangana Judo Association and Khammam District Judo Association had stated that no such competitions were held there on the dates mentioned in the certificates. Similar irregularities in the use of softball, kho-kho and kabaddi certificates, he alleged.

The YSRCP chief also alleged that a candidate from Kurnool was appointed as an SGT under the sports quota despite securing 65 marks in TET against the required 75.

The officials, he claimed, had defended the appointment saying that the candidate had appeared for the examination several times and that his highest score had been considered, while the category had subsequently been “jumbled up.”

Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy alleged similar discrepancies in the case of a candidate in Kadapa and accused the government of misuse of the EWS quota in Kadapa, Kurnool and East Godavari districts.

Questioning the government’s claim that certificates had been verified seven times before appointments were made, he said the explanation was difficult to accept in view of the alleged discrepancies. He alleged that the government was attempting to shield Mr. Lokesh and that officials were running out of explanations.

He also referred to an earlier allegation of question-paper leakage involving an outsourced employee who, the YSRCP chief claimed, gained access to the paper, secured the first rank and was subsequently removed from the merit list. Though audio and video evidence allegedly indicated that jobs were being offered, the case was not pursued adequately, he alleged.

He further alleged that the government had attempted to adopt a similar modus operandi in the APPSC recruitment to fill Forest Department posts through the sports quota, but withdrew the move after the DSC issue was exposed.