"Unko apni rajnitik roti sekni hai...": Dharmendra Pradhan's fierce attack on Congress amid NEET-UG row

New Dehli [India], June 29 : Amid the ongoing row over the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET), Union Education Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Dharmendra Pradhan on Saturday launched a fierce attack on the Congress party and claimed, "Unko apni rajnitik roti sekni hai" (They want to indulge in politics).
"Congress does not want discussion, and they are running away from it. They only want chaos, confusion, and want to create obstacles in the entire functioning of the institutional mechanism... The President herself has addressed the issue that Congress wants to debate, admitting the challenges and shortcomings in the process and that we have to look into them. On behalf of the government, I have clearly said that we are ready for any discussion, but Congress doesn't want to address the students' issue, Dharmendra Pradhan said.
" (They want to indulge in politics)", Pradhan added.
Listing out the series of actions taken by the government to address the matter, the Union Education Minister said that reforms have been initiated in the National Testing Agency (NTA) under the leadership of former ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan and that a new law has been formed to address the issue.
"Such issues have come to light even before 2014, but I cannot justify it... NTA has got new leadership, reforms have been initiated in NTA under the leadership of former ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan, we have formed a new law to address the issue, and the entire case has been handed over to the CBI... A new set of examination dates were announced yesterday, which were deferred or cancelled", he said.
The Union Minister further asserted that new dates for the NEET-PG, which was cancelled as a "precautionary measure", would be announced by Monday or Tuesday next week.
"New dates for NEET-PG will be announced by Monday-Tuesday", Dharmendra Pradhan said.
Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha witnessed several adjournments on Friday, with Congress and other opposition parties insisting on a debate on the NEET-UG row and the government keen to take up the motion of thanks on the President's address.
Lok Sabha was adjourned till 12 noon and later for the day as the opposition parties pressed for the acceptance of their adjournment notices seeking debate on the NEET-UG controversy. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who is the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, sought to raise the NEET-UG issue. Speaker Om Birla said that there was no provision for discussion on any other issue when the House has to take up a motion of thanks on the President's address.
He said members can raise all the issues during the debate on the motion of thanks and the government will reply to them. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijuju made similar remarks and condemned opposition members coming to the well of the House.
Rajya Sabha also saw repeated adjournments with Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar saying that he has been pained over Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, who is Leader of Opposition, coming to the well of the House over opposition demand. The opposition members later staged a walkout.
Kharge later told the media that he had sought to draw the Chair's attention but was not paid heed.
Dhankar said the Deputy Leader of Congress also came to the well of the House in protest.
The opposition INDIA bloc has been questioning the government and demanding a discussion over the ongoing NEET-UG row.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on June 23 registered a criminal case over the alleged irregularities in the conduct of the NEET-UG and UGC-NET exams by the NTA and formed special teams to probe the matter.
As per the agency's FIR, certain "isolated incidents" occurred in a few states during the conduct of the NEET (UG) 2024 examination, which was held on May 5.
The NEET (UG) 2024 Examination was conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) on May 5, 2024, at 4,750 centres in 571 cities, including 14 cities abroad, with over 23 lakh candidates appearing for the examination.
An unprecedented 67 candidates achieved a perfect score of 720 marks out of 720, which led to widespread protests in the country.