Tamil Nadu CM Vijay extends support to Congress' protest, demands scrapping of NEET exam
Chennai, July 22
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Vijay has extended support to Congress' protest, condemning the police action against the Cockroach Janata Party protest on Monday.
The opposition MPs, including Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, held protests wearing black clothes against the government on the Parliament premises. On Tuesday, Congress led a protest at Lok Kalyan Marg, after which Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and several other leaders were detained by the police.
Congress had demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
Vijay condemned the detention of opposition leaders and termed the police action "undemocratic."
He wrote on X, "The arrest of several leaders--including the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Mr Rahul Gandhi--who stepped forward to support the youth protesting in Delhi against the irregularities in the NEET examination, is undemocratic. These actions by the Union Government are condemnable. Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam extends its full support to the protest being held today within the Parliament complex by opposition parties, condemning the unfortunate incidents that occurred yesterday."
Further, Vijay called for abolishing the NEET examination. He said that for the abolishment, education must be transferred to the State List. Currently, education as a subject is under the Concurrent List.
He suggested creation of a 'Special Concurrent List' as an interim measure for states to exercise full authority over general and medical education.
Vijay posted, "Regarding NEET, TVK's uncompromising stance is that the NEET examination system must be completely abolished. We will never make false promises--using a system that severely affects not only students but also their families--merely for the sake of vote-bank politics."
"To abolish exams like NEET, education must first be transferred to the State List; that is the only permanent solution. Should there be any legal or procedural hurdles to this, a 'Special Concurrent List' should be created as an interim measure to empower state governments. This would pave the way for states to exercise full authority over matters including general and medical education. This is our vision regarding both the permanent and interim solutions. We emphasised this strongly at the very inception of our party, during the educational awards ceremony organised by our Kazhagam," he added.
"The Union Government must respect the sentiments of our people and our students. Consequently, the NEET examination must be completely scrapped. We reiterate that this is the only solution to this issue," the Chief Minister wrote.
Earlier today, DMK chief and former Tamil Nadu CM, MK Stalin, also called for abolishing the NEET exam.
Meanwhile, Congress workers held protests across several states on Wednesday, condemning the police action during the July 20 protest in the national capital and the detention of party leaders.
From the Centre, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the government was ready for a parliamentary discussion on the NEET exam paper leak and related matters.
— ANI
Reader Comments
As someone who studied in the US, I see the merit in a standardized medical entrance exam. But the implementation in India has been disastrous—paper leaks, coaching mafia, and discrimination against regional language students. The 'Special Concurrent List' idea is interesting but sounds legally messy. Need a practical solution, not just political point-scoring.
Final year MBBS student here. NEET is deeply flawed but scrapping it completely isn't the answer either. We need a robust exam system with proper security, multiple attempts, and weightage for board marks like before. This is just political drama while students suffer. Both Congress and BJP are using us as pawns. 🙄
Arre yaar, CM Vijay is right! NEET has destroyed the dreams of countless poor students in villages. Coaching classes charge lakhs, and the paper leak makes it worse. But Congress should look at their own track record first. Also, why is Rahul Gandhi suddenly the voice of Tamil Nadu? Let local leaders speak.
Interesting to see the parallels with US college admissions debates. The core issue here is equity vs. merit. Indian students deserve a fair system, not one where the rich can buy their way in. I appreciate CM Vijay's call for state control—local context matters. But blanket scrapping without an alternative is risky.
This is classic vote-bank politics! NEET was a Congress initiative, and now they're protesting against their own baby. CM Vijay is a new player trying to grab attention. The real solution is to fix NEET, not abolish it. Make it transparent, allow regional languages,
We welcome thoughtful discussions from our readers. Please keep comments respectful and on-topic.