Manickam Tagore blames AIADMK-BJP alliance for Tamil Nadu’s NEET crisis

Chennai, August 18

Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president Manickam Tagore on Tuesday accused the AIADMK and the BJP of creating Tamil Nadu’s prolonged crisis over the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test, rejecting former Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami’s attempt to blame the Congress.

In a post on X, Tagore said Minister Rajesh Kumar had presented the facts surrounding NEET in the Legislative Assembly and argued that Palaniswami could not escape responsibility for the examination’s implementation in the State.

He noted that NEET was not introduced in Tamil Nadu during the lifetime of former Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa. The examination took effect in 2017, after Palaniswami became Chief Minister and the AIADMK government grew dependent on the BJP-led Union government, he alleged.

Tagore said the AIADMK administration had enabled NEET and damaged the medical aspirations of thousands of students. Efforts to rewrite the episode or transfer responsibility to the Congress would not erase the record, he added.

Defending the Congress, Tagore said its policies were intended to protect poor and ordinary students and that the party was prepared to revise decisions in response to public sentiment. Policies should be adapted to people’s needs, he said, comparing the process to tailoring shoes to fit a person’s feet rather than cutting the feet to fit the shoes.

He further accused the BJP government of empowering the National Testing Agency and turning NEET into a lucrative coaching-centre market. Allegations of paper leaks, corruption and examination irregularities had intensified the pressure on students, he said.

Referring to the death of medical aspirant S. Anitha and other students, Tagore criticised the Narendra Modi government for continuing to defend the examination.

He reiterated Rahul Gandhi’s assurance that States opposing NEET would receive complete exemption under a Congress government. Tagore challenged Palaniswami to secure a similar commitment from the BJP and openly declare that Tamil Nadu did not want NEET any longer.