Seven candidates were in the fray for the position of president. The main contest is between Congress leader and former Union Minister Salman Khurshid, RSS's Muslim Rashtriya Manch's national convenor and oncologist Talikoti, retired IRS officer Abrar Ahmed and entrepreneur Asif Habib.

Videos from exam centres show disorder and apparent malpractice during the second phase of a recruitment test held by the CSIR, and candidates have also complained of server and computer issues while taking the test.

EduTest, an Ahmedabad-based company, which has been blacklisted by the UP government, has now been handed the responsibility of conducting the second phase of recruitment exam for PM Narendra Modi-led CSIR. Some candidates who appeared in this exam are in jail on charges of cheating during the first phase.

EduTest founder Sureshchandra Arya is the president of a Hindu organisation and Modi attends his programmes. The company's managing director Vineet Arya has been jailed in the past, but the company continues to get contracts for examinations.

Paper leaks not only result in the cancellation of exams, but with them the hopes and aspirations of countless candidates are also dashed. In the last five years, 41 recruitment exams in 15 states have been cancelled due to paper leaks, resulting in a huge blow to 1.4 crore applicants.