1 week Ago By DTNEXT Bureau
COIMBATORE: Chief Minister MK Stalin on Sunday dared AIADMK general secretary ‘Edappadi’ K Palaniswami to openly announce granting exemption to Tamil Nadu from NEET as a precondition for alliance with the BJP. “If you have even a drop of concern for students of Tamil Nadu, will you announce openly that an alliance with BJP is possible only if the state gets exempted from NEET,” he said in The Nilgiris, while responding to the Leader of the Opposition accusing DMK for life loss of students due to NEET. Attacking Palaniswami over his double stand regarding alliance with the BJP, Stalin said NEET was not introduced in Tamil Nadu during the regime of former Chief Minister M Karunanidhi.
“It was not allowed even during the tenure of J Jayalalithaa. Only after her demise was NEET introduced in Tamil Nadu when O Panneerselvam and Edappadi K Palaniswami were at the feet of the BJP (during their ruling). Why didn’t you put forth NEET exemption as a precondition while forging an alliance with the BJP and while facing polls together? Whereas Congress leader Rahul Gandhi declared that NEET exemption will be given to non-willing states if INDIA alliance comes to power,” Stalin said.
Referring to remarks by Palaniswami asking for DMK’s secret behind scrapping NEET, Stalin said if only INDIA alliance had formed a government, NEET exemption would have become a reality. The DMK convened an all-party meeting on 9 April to decide on the next course of legal and political action over the union government rejecting the state’s bill seeking NEET exemption. Expressing his opposition to the Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2025 implemented in an undemocratic manner, Stalin hit out at AIADMK for lacking transparency in its stand as to whether it opposes or supports the bill.
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