‘BJP would not exercise control if Jayalalithaa or Karunanidhi ruled’

Addressing cadre while participating in a statewide agitation organized by Dravidar Kazhagam (DK), against the Centre for imposing NEET and demanding exemption for the state students from the same, Bharati, who represented DMK, asked, “If Kalaignar or Jayalalithaa were ruling the state, would the BJP ministers have come uninvited and attempted to exert their influence on the state government? 

Would they have tried to gain backdoor entry in to Fort St George?” “Now, BJP union ministers are heading straight from Airport to Fort St George and giving instructions to the state government,” Bharati remarked, adding that such a situation had arisen due to the absence of a stable government in Tamil Nadu. 

Leading the agitation, DK president K Veeramani referred to the recent statements of a few BJP leaders and said that two union ministers have daringly said in public that Tami Nadu would not defy the Centre. “They have the nerve to say that they will not give exemption to Tamil Nadu from NEET,” the DK leader said, urging the ruling AIADMK to get the assent for NEET legislation through the Centre. Joining issue with the Dravidian majors, VCK leader Thol Thirumavalavan charged the state government with collapsing the state board syllabus. 

Referring to the NEET question, which was based on CBSE syllabus, Thirumavalavan referred to the statements of chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and state school education minister KA Sengottaiyan that the syllabus of the state board schools would be upgraded at par with CBSE syllabus and said the statement was proof that the state was letting the state board syllabus system collapse. 

CPI state secretary R Mutharasan and MMK leader MH Jawahirullah were among the leaders who slammed the Centre and State for letting Tamil Nadu students down on the issue. The ruling AIADMK remains isolated since the issue hit the centerstage with the entire Opposition blaming the state government for not doing enough to persuade the Centre to get the President’s assent for the NEET Bill passed unanimously by the State Assembly.