No UPA link to NEET : Congress floor leader Selvaperunthagai on Monday declared in the Assembly that he is ready to resign if proved that NEET Act was passed by the Congress-led UPA regime.
“Lies are being repeatedly spread in the State Assembly regarding NEET, with claims that the Congress-led UPA government, along with the DMK, enacted the NEET (National Medical Commission Act) legislation. On the contrary, it was the BJP government that enacted the NEET Act in 2016,” he said. Reiterating his stance on the Assembly floor, he challenged his opponents to present evidence and asserted that if they are proven wrong, they too should step down.
This was seen as a veiled attack on the AIADMK, who have consistently argued that the roots of NEET lie with the UPA regime.
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Selvaperunthagai also took aim at the BJP-led central government over the recent terror attack in Pahalgam in Kashmir, which claimed 26 lives. “Kashmir has a three-tier security system—comprising the Army, followed by the paramilitary forces and then the state police. If terrorists manage to infiltrate through all three levels, is it not a failure of the military? Despite this, we continue to stand with the military. Yet here, in Tamil Nadu, the police are criticised for every incident instead of being supported,” he said.
The Congress MLA’s comments came in response to BJP MLA Vanathi Srinivasan’s reference to alleged religious extremist groups operating in Tamil Nadu. Sharpening his criticism, Selvaperunthagai stated that the only extremist group present in Tamil Nadu is the “Sangh Parivar”, and added that the state police are closely monitoring their activities.
He also praised the swift and strategic action of the Tamil Nadu police in apprehending North Indian chain snatchers soon after the incidents in Chennai on 25 March. “The North Indian robbers watched Hindi films and ended up getting caught, while our police watched English films like James Bond — and caught them,” he said, in a subtle dig at the BJP’s promotion of the National Education Policy (NEP) and its perceived Hindi imposition through the three-language policy.
