Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Vijay on Tuesday condemned the detention of Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi and other Opposition leaders during their protest outside the Prime Minister’s residence, calling the Centre’s actions “against democracy.”
In a statement, CM Vijay said the detention of Gandhi, who had come out in support of protesting students, was condemnable. He also announced his party, Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam’s support for the Opposition’s protest inside Parliament over Monday’s developments.
Reiterating his party’s stand on NEET, the Chief Minister said TVK remained committed to the complete abolition of the entrance examination, arguing that it had adversely affected not just students but their families as well.
“The NEET examination must be abolished completely. We reiterate that this alone is the solution to this issue,” he said, adding that the party would not make “false promises for vote-bank politics” over the matter.
Calling for structural reforms, CM Vijay argued that education should be moved back to the State List, saying this was the only permanent solution to abolishing examinations such as NEET.
Until such constitutional changes are made, he proposed the creation of a Special Concurrent List to vest greater powers in state governments over education, including medical admissions.
The Tamil Nadu CM said TVK had articulated the same position soon after the party’s launch, and that both the permanent and interim solutions had already been outlined by the party.
He added that the Union government must respect the sentiments of students and the public and do away with the examination altogether.
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