Tamil Nadu: AIADMK's Palaniswami takes on DMK over NEET issue

Salem (Tamil Nadu) [India], October 22 : All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) general secretary Edappadi Palaniswami hit out at the ruling party Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) on Sunday regarding the ongoing National Entrance-cum-Eligibility Test (NEET) examination issue in Tamil Nadu.
Palaniswami alleged that DMK has been cheating people by promising to ban NEET in the state.
"The current Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, MK Stalin, had said that when DMK comes to power, they will ban NEET in the state, and it has been 2.5 years. TN medical students expected a lot but many students lost their lives," Palaniswami said while speaking at a party event in Salem.
The AIADMK leader also criticised state minister Udhayanidhi Stalin over his 'signature campaign' against the NEET exam.
"TN Sports Minister Udayanidhi Stalin said that he is going to collect 50 lakh signatures across the state against the NEET examination and urged people to protest as the state did for Jallikattu," he said.
He further said, "Jallikatu is a state issue, but NEET is across India; it's an issue with the Centre; even the Supreme Court has given directions regarding this. DMK is cheating people by saying the NEET exam will be banned in TN. The only thing the DMK regime and MK Stalin did was make his son a minister."
Palaniswami slammed CM Stalin's stand pertaining to the ongoing Cauvery River water dispute with Karnataka, alleging that the chief minister considers the INDIA bloc over the state adding that he has no knowledge of the agriculture sector.
"DMK leader Stalin gives importance to the INDI alliance. And he does not give much importance to the Cauvery water issue. The Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu knows nothing about agriculture or the cattle shelter industry," Palaniswami said.
He added, "DMK Chief Minister is a Toy Chief Minister. All industries are suffering a lot and several have collapsed due to severe price hikes during this DMK regime. If a government does not act properly the price will continue to rise."
The AIADMK general secretary also informed that more than 200 people joined the party under the administration of AIADMK Coimbatore district Youth Council executives.
Earlier on Saturday, October 21, 2023, Tamil Nadu Sports Minister and DMK leader Udhayanidhi Stalin participated in a 'signature campaign' against the NEET examination in Chennai.
Speaking on occasion, the DMK leader said that the party plans to get lakhs of signatures in 50 days against the NEET examination adding that after getting signatures in this campaign, CM Stalin will write to the President explaining once again our stand against NEET.
During the signature campaign, Udhyanidhi said, "So far 22 lives have been lost due to NEET. Not only in Tamil Nadu, (but) in India (cases of) suicides are continuing. We have to put a full stop to this. So only (for this) we started this signature campaign.
"The exemption of NEET from the state has been a long-pending demand of Tamil Nadu.
CM Stalin had earlier written to the Chief Ministers' of 12 states, seeking the shifting of education to the state list from the current concurrent list in order to put an end to the NEET examination.
In February last year, the Tamil Nadu Assembly adopted the anti-NEET bill for the second time after the Governor returned it earlier.
Moreover, later, the state governor, RN Ravi, referred the bill to the President for approval.