Govt ready for Neet discussion, but Oppn says Pradhan must resign first

Activist Sonam Wangchuk has said he will end fast if the Centre assures no action against protesters

The deadlock in the Parliament over the alleged paper leaks issue continued for a third successive day of the monsoon session on Wednesday. While the government said it was open to holding a discussion in Parliament on the alleged irregularities in conducting the National Entrance cum Eligibility Test (Neet), the Congress-led Opposition insisted that Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan must resign before any such discussion to ensure a fair debate. 

Later in the day, while addressing a media briefing at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s national headquarters, Union Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda denied reports that he met representatives of the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) on Wednesday. He confirmed that he had gone to Medanta Hospital in Gurugram on Tuesday night with Minister of Science and Technology Jitendra Singh to meet climate activist Sonam Wangchuk. Nadda, who is the Leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha and the former head of the BJP, said the government will respond to the CJP’s demands as well as Wangchuk’s open letter. 

 

Wangchuk, whose hunger strike entered its 25th day on Wednesday, was shifted from New Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital to Medanta Hospital on Tuesday in compliance with a Delhi High Court order. On Wednesday, he issued a video message from his hospital bed where he said Nadda and Jitendra Singh met him and that 65 Opposition MPs urged him to end his fast. 

The activist said he was keen to end his fast but on the condition that the government will stop using force on the protesting youth, and assure that the youth who participated in the protest will not face any punitive or retaliatory legal action. 

In his open letter addressed to Nadda and Singh, Wangchuk stated that the two had assured him that the government will positively consider his demands that it will give adequate compensation to families of the Neet aspirants who died by suicide following the paper leak. He also said the ministers agreed to holding a discussion in Parliament on the issue of paper leaks to ensure accountability, including considering the resignation of Union Education Minister Pradhan. 

A little later, CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke posted on social media that the outfit’s protest will not end until “Pradhan is sacked by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”  “If the farmers’ protest could go on for a year until they won, we will also not stop until we win,” he added. The CJP also said all police officials involved in “committing atrocities” during the march to Parliament on Monday “must be prosecuted”. 

The outfit also said it was open to dialogues with the government to resolve the ongoing agitation, but insisted that the discussions should take place either at the protest site at Jantar Mantar, or at a neutral venue instead of a minister’s residence. 

CJP chief spokesperson Saurav Das said police informed the outfit on Wednesday morning that Union Minister Nadda wanted to hold discussions and had invited them to his residence. “We refused to go to anyone’s house or office. The people’s court is here. Ministers should come among the people. If they want to talk, the talks should be held at Jantar Mantar,” he said. 

On the other hand, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, addressed a press conference on the “crisis in the country’s education sector” at the Congress’ Indira Bhavan headquarters. This came a day after he was detained along with Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and others outside the prime minister’s residence in New Delhi’s Lok Kalyan Marg where they were holding a sit-in protest. Gandhi accused the Modi government of destroying India’s education system and expressed full support for the protesting students, saying that their demands, including Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation, were fully legitimate and non-negotiable. 

He said the protesting students were “not terrorists” and were simply asking for an education system that works and is fair. He also backed the demands for PM Modi to issue an apology to students and to hold those responsible for the assault on students accountable. 

A video of alleged “police brutality” against students during Monday’s Sansad Chalo protest was shown at the start of the press conference. 

Gandhi alleged that the education system was not only rigged, but it was also unaffordable. He claimed 152 paper leaks have taken place in the last decade, with 75 million students affected by the breakdown of the education system, and that there have been zero convictions despite the number of paper leaks. The annual exam expense of families is ₹1.32 trillion, which is nearly equal to the education budget of ₹1.4 trillion, Gandhi claimed. He said another reason for student protests is that after acquiring education, students are told that the doors that were opened to you are now closed. 

“So manufacturing is closed, entrepreneurship is closed, corporate jobs are closed, public sector is closed. The only choice they have is a government job. Then you rig the system and make it unaffordable. We are 100 per cent in agreement with students. There must be some consequences,” he said. 

Some of those who participated in the protest on Monday had alleged that police used lathis with nails. Gandhi alleged that pellet guns were also used. While the Delhi Police on Tuesday rejected the claims of use of pellet guns by its personnel against protesters during the march, there was no information available so far about whether the RAF personnel used pellet guns on the day. 

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday sought responses from the Centre and the city police on two pleas alleging excessive use of force against protesters during Monday’s march to Parliament. 

In response to Gandhi’s allegations, Nadda accused him of being “selective” with his facts on paper leaks, and recounted the number of exam paper leaks in states ruled by the Congress and other constituents of the Opposition INDIA bloc. 

Nadda said the forum for a constructive discussion on the issue of paper leaks is Parliament, and that the government is willing to hold that discussion. Nadda also accused Gandhi of trying to milk political mileage out of the issue rather than sitting down for a discussion to find solutions. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh also accused the Opposition of attempting to use the issue as a “political tool” to fulfil its political interests. He urged the Opposition to raise issues in Parliament instead of on the streets. 

Meanwhile, protesters continued to gather at Jantar Mantar throughout the night on Tuesday and Wednesday morning. Sixteen metro stations were temporarily shut during the day due to security reasons, and were reopened in the evening. The closure of the metro stations left hundreds of office-goers, students and other commuters stranded. Protests were also reported from across the country. 

Amid murmurs of a possible unification of the two NCP factions and the speculation that the united entity would join the ruling NDA, Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) chief Sharad Pawar, along with his MP daughter, Supriya Sule, met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday. After the meeting with Modi, Pawar said he and Sule discussed the students’ demands regarding the Neet paper “leak”, farmers’ problems, water management and issues concerning the education sector with the prime minister.

 

(With agency inputs)