DMK president M.K. Stalin on Thursday reiterated that once his party was voted into office, it would get exemption from the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) for medical aspirants in the manner Tamil Nadu was allowed to follow the two-language policy and conduct jallikattu.
“The DMK government will make use of legal means, the power of the Assembly and the support of courts to get the NEET cancelled. The DMK always fulfilled what it had promised,” he said in a statement.
Denying the allegation that the NEET was introduced when the Congress was in power in 2010 and the DMK was part of the government, Mr. Stalin said the NEET could not enter Tamil Nadu so long as the DMK was in power.
“When he was the Chief Minister, our leader Kalaignar [M. Karunanidhi] obtained a stay on the decision of the Medical Council of India in the Supreme Court. If he has the courage, let Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami come out with the evidence to support his allegation that the NEET was introduced [in Tamil Nadu] during the DMK regime,” he said.
Mr. Stalin also wanted to know why the AIADMK MPs in the Rajya Sabha and in the Lok Sabha staged a walkout when the Bill for the NEET was introduced. “Why didn’t they vote against the Bill? The AIADMK surrendered its right to vote on a major issue and paved the way for the entry of the NEET into Tamil Nadu. Now it is shedding crocodile tears,” he said.
Mr. Stalin also rejected the AIADMK’s claim that the Supreme Court had stayed the NEET in 2010 on a petition filed by its leader and former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa.
“The order was delivered in 2013 on a petition filed by the DMK. It was the DMK that had obtained a stay in 2010. Mr. Palaniswami is diverting the attention by referring to a wrong year,” he said.
Reiterating his allegation that the BJP-led government at the Centre was responsible for introducing the NEET in 2017-18, he said Mr. Palaniswami was the Chief Minister then.
