- Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam demands abolition of NEET amid student protests in Delhi
- TVK calls for shifting medical education powers fully to states from the Concurrent List
- The party criticises DMK for false promises to scrap NEET before 2021 elections
Tamil Nadu's ruling TVK has joined the opposition chorus around the NEET paper leaks and students protest.
Thalapthy Vijay's party on Tuesday upped the ante saying it was not merely opposed to irregularities in NEET but wanted the medical entrance examination scrapped altogether.
It also demanded that states be given full powers over matters relating to medical education.
Amid student protests over NEET in Delhi, the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam said its "uncompromising and firm stand" was that the national-level entrance test for medical aspirants should be abolished.
Targeting the main opposition DMK without naming it, the TVK said it would never indulge in the "fraudulent politics" of deceiving people for votes by making false promises to "scrap NEET ourselves."
The DMK had, in the run-up to the 2021 Assembly elections, promised to scrap NEET after coming to power.
In a statement issued here, the TVK called for shifting education from the Concurrent List to the State List of the Constitution as part of the solution to the issue.
"If there are any legal or procedural hurdles in doing so, a Special Concurrent List should be created as an interim measure until they are resolved to grant powers to state governments." It said this would ensure that states have full authority over education, including medical education.
"This is our vision for both a permanent and an interim solution. Our victorious leader (Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay) has already emphasised this," the party said.
The party said those indulging in the unethical politics of "putting their own label" on others' hard work, ideas and struggles should immediately stop targeting the TVK.
The TVK's statement comes against the backdrop of criticism by Leader of the Opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin over the government's handling of rap singer 'Therukkural' Arivu, who has taken a strong stand against NEET.
Before being whisked away by the police, Arivu briefly raised anti-NEET slogans outside the Tamil Nadu Secretariat in the Fort St George campus here.
