Koppal (Karnataka), May 25: Karnataka Minister Shivaraj Tangadagi on Saturday said if the BJP wins the Lok Sabha elections again then Prime Minister Narendra Modi will build his own temples in every village.

Tangadagi, who holds the Backward Class Development and Kannada and Culture portfolio, said the statements of the prime minister is such that he would get his temples constructed in every village of the country.

The minister's remark came in the backdrop of PM Modi's interview to a national TV channel where he reportedly said, "Until my mother was alive, I used to think I was born biologically. After her demise, when I look at my experiences, I am convinced that I was sent by God. This strength is not from my body. It has been given to me by God. That's why God also gave me the ability, strength, pure-heartedness, and inspiration to do this. I'm nothing but an instrument that God has sent."

Tangadagi also took a swipe at BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra's statement that Lord Jagannath is PM Modi's devotee.

"In case Prime Minister Narendra Modi wins this time, a situation will emerge to build his temples everywhere. Ram temple has happened and others are also being constructed. 'Now (he will say) my own temple should be built' because his statements are like that," Tangadagi told reporters at Karatagi in this district.

"Modi's mind has reached to an extent where he says if people give him a chance this time, he will say that his temple should be built in every village," the minister said, and added that public representatives are public servants and they are not God.

Ridiculing Patra's statement, Tangadagi said, "They (BJP leaders) say that Puri Jagannath is Modi's devotee. If God is his devotee, then (you can guess) where has the BJP people's mindset reached."

Calling his statement a slip of tongue, Patra, the BJP's candidate from Jagannath Puri in Odisha, had apologised to the people and did penance for three days.

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New Delhi (PTI): The CBI has arrested two more persons in connection with the NEET (UG) paper-leak case, with the role of several officers of the National Testing Agency (NTA) and other organisations, who had access to the printing press where the papers were printed, coming under the scanner, officials said on Thursday.

The agency has arrested Dhananjay Lokhanda from Ahilyanagar and Manisha Waghmare from Pune and conducted searches at 14 locations across the country in the last 24 hours, they said.

The CBI is focussing on identifying the source of the leak that has caused massive disappointment to lakhs of aspirants eyeing a seat in undergraduate medical courses, which are allotted after the highly-competitive examination, the officials said.

According to the CBI probe so far, the involvement of public servants in the leak cannot be ruled out.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested three individuals from Jaipur -- Mangilal Biwal, Vikas Biwal and Dinesh Biwal -- along with Yash Yadav from Gurugram and Shubham Khairnar from Nashik.

Khairnar was in touch with Yadav and informed him in April that Mangilal Biwal was ready to pay Rs 10-12 lakh for arranging leaked NEET (UG) 2026 questions for his younger son.

Khairnar allegedly provided 500 to 600 questions from the leaked paper to Yadav, the officials said, adding that the questions could have helped score enough marks to get a seat in a reputed medical college.

Mangilal Biwal allegedly procured the paper from Yadav, who was known to his elder son Vikas Biwal from an NEET coaching in Rajasthan's Sikar. The deal between Mangilal Biwal and Yadav was for Rs 10 lakh, if 150 questions from the question bank matched with those in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) paper, the officials said.

Mangilal Biwal shared the paper with his son and further distributed it among relatives.

Yadav also told Vikas Biwal to find additional candidates for the questions to recover some of the money that he had spent on getting those, the officials said.

An analysis of digital devices has given the agency incriminating chats, leaked question papers and other digital evidence. The CBI will subject the devices to a forensic examination to get the deleted data, the officials said.

The federal agency has registered an FIR and formed teams to probe the alleged NEET (UG) paper leak that resulted in the cancellation of the exam held on May 3.

The NEET (UG) 2026 was conducted across 551 Indian cities and at 14 overseas centres. Nearly 23 lakh candidates had registered for the test, which was administered by the NTA at centres across the country.

According to the NTA, information regarding alleged malpractice was received on the evening of May 7, four days after the examination was held. The NTA said the inputs were escalated to central agencies the following morning for "independent verification and necessary action".

The Rajasthan Police's Special Operations Group (SOG) has claimed that a "guess paper" for chemistry, allegedly circulated among students ahead of the examination, had approximately 410 questions, including roughly 120 that appeared in the test.