"Several scams happened since BJP came to power": Digvijaya Singh on NEET issue

New Delhi [India], June 21 : Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister and Congress leader Digvijay Singh on Friday came down heavily on the BJP government and said the nation has witnessed several scams since BJP came to power.
While addressing the people, Singh targeted the Centre and said, "Since the BJP came to power, several scams happened in the country. The PM never spoke about any of these scams."
Stepping up his attacks, he added further, "Whatever recruitments happened under the rule of BJP, be that in Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, or Madhya Pradesh, there have been scams in the recruitment.
Singh in his address also mentioned RSS and said, "Where are those who had taken the responsibility of protecting Hindus? Out of the 14 lakh students who took the NEET exam, 5%-10% would be Muslims, but the rest are Hindus. Is this not injustice with Hindus? RSS and PM have not said a word till now."
The Congress leader also criticised the NTA chairman, Pradeep Kumar Joshi and said, "He speaks lies on every step over NEET examination. First, he said that there was no paper leak. When it was proved, he said that an investigation would be done..."
He added, "The HRD minister (Dharmendra Pradhan) has never said anything against the Chairman of National Testing Agency, who is continuously telling lies and through false briefings, is compromising the position of the minister as well. The minister should at least take resignation from Pradeep Joshi but he will not even do that as everyone is involved in this..."
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on Friday again declined to stay the process of counselling in the NEET-UG 2024 and has issued a notice to the National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducts the examination.
A vacation bench of Justices Vikram Nath and SVN Bhatti of the apex court has tagged the fresh pleas along with pending petitions and posted them for hearing on July 8.
On Thursday, the top court issued a notice on a plea filed by the NTA seeking the transfer of petitions relating to the NEET-UG, 2024 examination from the High Courts to the apex court.
A vacation bench has also stayed proceedings before different high courts. The vacation bench was hearing pleas due to allegations of question paper leaks and other malpractices.
The apex court reiterated that it will not stop the counselling process. The Supreme Court has also issued a notice to the Centre and NTA on a petition filed by some students who appeared in the Meghalaya centre for the NEET-UG exam and allegedly lost 45 minutes and prayed they should be a part of the 1563 students who got grace marks and were given the option to appear for re-exam on June 23.
The Supreme Court has posted the pleas for hearing on July 8.
The NEET-UG 2024 exam was conducted on May 5 and its results were declared on June 4, ahead of its scheduled announcement date of June 14.
Protests were held alleging irregularities and paper leaks as the results showed that as many as 67 students had topped the exam with a perfect score of 720. Petitions have been filed in courts by students seeking a re-test.
The Supreme Court has allowed are-test of over 1,500 students who were awarded "grace marks."
The NEET-UG examination, conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA), paves the way for admission to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH and other related courses in government and private institutions across the country.
On June 13, the NTA informed the Supreme Court that the scorecards of 1563 candidates who were awarded "grace marks" in the NEET-UG 2024 exam would be cancelled and these candidates would have an option to reappear for the exam on June 23, the results of which will be declared before June 30, or forgo the compensatory marks given for the loss of time.