NEW DELHI, June 28: The opposition caused repeated disruptions in Parliament Friday over the NEET paper leak issue, with both Houses being adjourned for the day without transacting much business apart from the Rajya Sabha taking up the Motion of Thanks for the President’s address amid protests including by the BJD, which almost always supported the BJP in the previous Lok Sabha.
At one point, Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge too entered the Well of the House to join the opposition protest.
The Lok Sabha was first adjourned minutes after it assembled at 11 am, and then when it reassembled around 12 noon, it was adjourned till Monday amid the opposition’s demand for a discussion on the issue.
Rajya Sabha also witnessed a series of disruptions before being adjourned for the day around 6 pm. But even during the time the House functioned, much of the time was taken up by the Opposition parties registering their protest by rasing slogans and entering into the Well of the House.
Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar expressed anguish over Kharge trooping into the Well, saying it is for the first time that a person occupying the post has engaged in such a conduct.
The opposition was relentless in their protest in Lok Sabha also which led to its first adjournment of the day minutes after the members assembled.
When the House reassembled at 12 noon, opposition members continued with their demand for a discussion on matters related to the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET).
Speaker Om Birla and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju told opposition members that they can discuss the matter during the course of the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s address.
Birla said there are certain norms of Parliament that have to be followed and committees have to be formed, to which Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi said students are not aware of it. They are only demanding justice.
As members from the Congress, TMC and DMK stormed into the Well, Rijiju said it is for the first time that the opposition is seen demanding a discussion on an issue before the House takes up the Motion of Thanks.
As the House continued to see uproar, Birla adjourned the proceedings till Monday.
Wanted constructive debate: Rahul
Asserting the INDIA bloc wants a constructive debate on the NEET issue, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Friday said it is unfortunate that they were not allowed to raise it in the Parliament.
In a video message shared from his ‘X’ handle, Gandhi urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to debate the issue and give the students the respect they deserve.
“The INDIA Opposition bloc wants to have a constructive debate with the Government on the NEET exam and the prevailing paper leak issue. It is unfortunate that we weren’t allowed to do so in Parliament today. This is a serious concern that is causing anxiety to lakhs of families across India,” the Congress leader said.
“We urge the Prime Minister to debate on this issue and give the students the respect they deserve,” he said.
In the video, Gandhi said the message is for all the students, who gave the NEET exam or any other exam, and said that the opposition wanted to discuss the issue but was not allowed to do so by the government.
“There has been a disaster as far as NEET is concerned. Everybody knows that the paper was leaked, people made thousands of crores of rupees. The students were hurt, damaged. The students studied for years. It is their dream, their aspiration to enter the medical field, and that dream and aspiration has been destroyed and ridiculed,” he said.
Gandhi said the INDIA bloc parties had unanimously decided to raise the issue on Friday.
CBI arrests principal, vice principal of school in Hazaribag
The CBI on Friday arrested the principal and vice principal of a school in Jharkhand’s Hazaribagh in connection with the NEET-UG paper leak case, officials said.
Ehsanul Haque, the principal of Oasis School, was made the city coordinator of Hazaribagh for the medical entrance exam conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) on May 5, they said.
Vice Principal Imtiaz Alam was designated as the NTA’s observer and the centre coordinator at the Oasis School, officials said, adding the CBI is also questioning five more people from the district in connection with the paper leak case.
The federal probe agency arrested Haque and Alam after detailed questioning, they said.Both the accused came under scanner during a probe by the Bihar Police’s Economic Offences Unit (EOU) which was investigating the case earlier. The team had found burnt question papers of NEET-UG during a raid at a hideout of the solver gang, officials said. (PTI)
