Chandigarh's Aarush Singhal AIR 8 in JEE Main 2026 — The Boy Who Quit His Phone and Topped
Aarush Singhal of Chandigarh was getting addicted to YouTube Shorts. His marks were slipping. He quit his phone cold turkey. On Monday, the National Testing Agency listed him first among 26 perfect scorers in a field of 15 lakh
North Desk Correspondent
Chandigarh, April 21
At a time when parents and students alike have come to accept the mobile phone as an indispensable study tool, a boy from Chandigarh quietly did the opposite — and ended up at the top of one of the most competitive examinations in the world.
Aarush Singhal, 18, of Sector 37 in the southern part of Chandigarh, secured All India Rank 8 in JEE Main 2026, scoring a perfect 100 percentile. When the National Testing Agency released its official press release on Monday evening, his name appeared first on the list of 26 students who achieved a perfect NTA score nationally — listed in order of application number, with Chandigarh against his name.
From a field of 15,38,468 unique candidates who appeared across both sessions of JEE Main 2026, the tricity placed two students in India’s top 25. Arnav Gandhi of Panchkula secured AIR 22, also at 100 percentile.
The phone, the Shorts, and the turning point
Aarush’s mother Malti Singhal does not mince words about what nearly derailed him. “He had become sort of addicted to his mobile phone,” she told North Desk. “He was watching Shorts and similar content. Then he realised he would have to kick this habit to realise his dream.”
The signal came from his coaching centre, Sri Chaitanya Coaching Centre. The mock tests and preparatory exams, which had once gone smoothly, began to show slippage. Marks were falling. Something had to give.
What gave was the phone — entirely.
“Once upon a time, I was spending a lot of time on my phone, watching YouTube videos,” Aarush said. He quit social media and put down his device completely.
The follow-up question is obvious: in an era when students routinely depend on YouTube lectures and digital resources, was going phone-free not a handicap? Malti Singhal is unequivocal. “I don’t know how true it is that these are essential. Aarush only depended on the study material provided by his coaching centre. They had prepared excellent material and he stuck to that.”
What replaced the phone was a preparation method that was, by Aarush’s own account, deliberately unhurried. No 12-hour grind sessions. Shorter, focused stretches of work, broken up with regular breaks. Basketball when the books needed to be set aside. “Consistency matters more than long hours,” he has said.
A student of Bhavan Vidyalaya, and before that Saupins, Aarush has had his destination fixed since Class 4, when he first began competing in programming and web design contests. Computer science engineering at IIT Bombay. Monday’s result puts him firmly on course.
His father Nakul Singhal is a software engineer. Aarush has a younger brother. In January’s Session 1, he had already scored 99.99 percentile — Monday was confirmation, not surprise.
From Hisar to Panchkula to the top 25
Arnav Gandhi’s path to AIR 22 has a different texture. Originally from Sector 13, Hisar, he has been staying at Bhavan Vidyalaya’s hostel in Panchkula — and crucially, he continued attending school through his entire JEE preparation, never stepping away from regular academics to focus solely on the entrance exam.
He too is aiming for computer science at IIT Bombay. An elder cousin studying at IIT Guwahati is his frame of reference. Tennis, cricket, and table tennis keep him grounded outside the classroom.
His parents — Dr Shikha Gandhi and Dr Premdeep Gandhi — run dental clinics.
Arnav made up his mind about engineering in Class 9. What followed was years of investment in conceptual clarity — working through problems rigorously rather than chasing shortcuts. The outcome was 291 out of 300 and a perfect percentile. “Strong conceptual understanding and regular practice,” is how he describes his method. Setbacks, he said, were part of the process.
The wider tricity tally
The region’s performance extended well beyond the top two. Niskarsh Verma added 99.999 percentile and AIR 46. Yajat Singhal secured AIR 100.
From Punjab, Bharat Bansal emerged as the state topper with 99.99 percentile and AIR 31 — the highest-ranked candidate from Punjab in this year’s results.
The national picture
The Session 2 results were declared on Monday, concluding an examination conducted across 584 centres in 319 cities, including 15 cities outside India. A total of 15,38,468 unique candidates appeared across both sessions — the highest in JEE Main history.
Of the 26 who scored 100 percentile, Aarush Singhal of Chandigarh is listed first in the NTA press release. Arnav Gandhi, listed under Haryana, is at serial number 8.
A total of 2,50,182 candidates have qualified for JEE Advanced 2026. The General category cutoff stood at 93.41 percentile. JEE Advanced is scheduled for May 17, with registration opening April 23 at jeeadv.ac.in.
For students who did not make the Advanced cutoff, JEE Main scores are accepted at NITs, IIITs and other centrally funded institutions. In the tricity, scores are accepted at Punjab Engineering College, UIET Chandigarh, CCET, Chandigarh College of Architecture, and Dr SSB University Institute of Chemical Engineering.
