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National, Politics, West Bengal

PM must defer new criminal laws: Mamata, Congress turn up Opposition chorus volume

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 After Tamil Nadu CM Stalin, Bengal CM writes to Modi; Manish Tewari demands new laws must go through Parliament again

TT, 21.06.24 : Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday joined the ranks of Opposition leaders who have opposed the three new criminal laws that are to come into effect on July 1.

The new laws, the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, are to replace the colonial-era Indian Penal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and the Indian Evidence Act of 1872, respectively.

Parliament passed the three new laws – one of the big projects of the new government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi – during the monsoon session in August last year.

“Any far-reaching legal, change requires meticulous groundwork beforehand to ensure effective enforcement and administration and we do not have any reason to avert such homework,” Mamata wrote in her letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday.

Earlier, civil liberty activists such as senior Supreme Court lawyer Indira Jaising have raised concerns over the new laws.

Critics of the government and legal activists say that only 20 to 25 per cent of the provisions are new and that they give too much power to the police. The new laws have provisions that could criminalise dissent, the critics of the government say.

“The new criminal Laws that come into effect from July 1st 2024 lay the foundations of turning India into a Police State. Their implementation must be stopped forthwith and Parliament must re-examine them,” Congress leader Manish Tewari posted on X on Friday, with a link to his article in the New Indian Express headlined ‘New criminal laws must go through Parliament again’.

A few days earlier, Tewari had posted: “The three new Criminal Laws were arbitrarily passed in Parliament after suspending a record 146 MP’s belonging to the opposition. These three Laws therefore reflect the will of only a section of Parliament those who then sat on the Treasury benches. They do not reflect the collective wisdom of Parliament. Even the dissenting views expressed by learned members of the Standing Parliamentary Committee of Home Affairs were not taken on board. The implementation of these Laws from July 1st 2024 will tantamount to throwing a spanner into India’s legal system. The operationalisation of these Laws must be put on hold till the time Parliament does not “ collectively reapply” itself to these three legislation’s

“Certain provisions in these laws represent the broadest assault on Civil liberties since the foundation of the Indian Republic,” he had posted. .

Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin has also earlier this week reportedly written to the Centre on the new criminal laws, urging Prime Minister Modi take the states’ views into consideration.

He had reportedly said that the new laws had been pushed through “without adequate deliberations and consultations”.

He had also pointed to the Constitution.

“These enactments are falling within List III – concurrent list of the Constitution of India and hence extensive consultation ought to have been done with the State Government,” he reportedly wrote. “The States were not given adequate time to express their views and the new laws were passed by the Parliament without the participation of the opposition parties.”

He had pointed to things like Section 103 of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) allegedly having two subsections for two distinct classes of murder with the same punishment.
Regional, Sikkim

Danger looms over the Teesta and adjoining areas

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YOWAN MOTHAY, EOI,  KALIMPONG, JUNE 20, 2024 :  The continuous rains in Sikkim and Kalimpong caused the water level of Teesta river to rise today which led to flooding the road to Darjeeling. 

The construction work started by PWD a few days ago was also stopped today. Traffic has also been halted on this route. According to information provided by Kalimpong District Magistrate Balasubramanyam T, those flood affected families have been temporarily kept in a camp at Labarbote.
There are 31 flood affected families in the relief camp and they are being looked after by the Kalimpong district administration. 
However people still living in their houses express fear of a water burial as Teesta swells. water levels rise. 
Says a Malli resident, Mahendra Chowdhary: “There is an atmosphere of fear in Malli at night because all the buildings on Malli Road are on the edge of the Teesta River. I was awake till 3 am. 
Life has become horrible,’’ he said. In the same way, the National Highway-10, which is considered the lifeline of Sikkim and Kalimpong has been damaged because of the rains. 
Kalimpong district administration has restricted the movement of vehicles from 6 pm to 6 am at Malli Bridge, Ravi Jhoda and Likhuvir on National Highway-10 keeping in mind the safety of the people. 
Vehicles going to Siliguri from Sikkim and Kalipong were often seen taking an alternate route to Siliguri through Lava.Traffic police personnel were deployed at Chitra and Ravijhoda for direction to vehicles.
National, Politics

ECI gets EVM verification requests for eight Lok Sabha seats in 6 states

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PTI, New Delhi, Jun 20, 2024 :  The Election Commission has received eight applications from aggrieved candidates, including those from the BJP and the Congress, for verification of tampering or modification in micro-controller chips embedded in the EVMs post declaration of Lok Sabha election results on June 4.


Terming the suspicion of manipulation of the electronic voting machines “unfounded”, the Supreme Court had on April 26 rejected the demand for reverting to the old paper ballot system.

But at the same time, the top court had opened a window for the aggrieved unsuccessful candidates securing second and third places in the poll results and allowed them to seek verification of micro-controller chips embedded in five per cent EVMs per assembly constituency on a written request upon the payment of a fee to the poll panel.

BJP’s Ahmednagar (Maharashtra) candidate Sujay Vikhe-Patil has sought verification of the machines from 40 polling stations.

Vikhe-Patil had lost to Nilesh Lanke of NCP (Sharad Pawar) faction.

A YSRCP and a DMDK candidate too have applied for the verification, according to data shared by the poll panel.

According to the EC, eight parliamentary seats spread across six states are involved. The total number of polling stations for which verification has been sought is 92.

Candidates who come second or third and seek verification of the EVMs will have to pay Rs 47,200 per EVM set, according to the standard operating procedure issued by the EC on June 1.

According to the EC’s Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), the cost submitted by manufacturers BEL and ECIL to carry out EVM “check and verification” is Rs 40,000 (plus 18 per cent GST) per set of EVM.

“In addition to the cost incurred by the manufacturers, there are also administrative costs like cost of labour to shift the units, CCTV coverage, electricity charges, videography costs and various other operational costs at the district election officer level,” the document said.

It, however, said to make the verification process “more accessible” and inclusive in compliance to the referred mandate of the Supreme Court, it is decided that instead of going purely by the actual economic costs incurred, the administrative expenditure on EVM verification will be treated as “election expenditure and borne by the central or state government, as the case may be”.

“Accordingly, the administrative charges will be waived for the applicants — the same shall not be charged to the applicants,” it noted.

The charges for EVM verification to be paid by the applicant candidate is for the current financial year 2024-25 — till March 31, 2025, it said.

An EVM set has at least one Ballot Unit, one Control Unit and a VVPAT machine.

Separately, YSRCP and BJD candidates from Andhra Pradesh and Odisha respectively have also applied for EVM check following the announcement of assembly results on June 4.

Assembly polls in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh were held along with the Lok Sabha elections.

In the verification exercise for assembly poll results, total assembly constituencies involved are three where verification has been sought in 26 polling stations.

According to the SOP, the concerned state chief electoral officer (CEO) was required to communicate to the manufacturers the consolidated list of applicants within 30 days of the date of declaration of results — by July 4. The CEOs have already conveyed the same to the manufacturers 15 days ahead of the schedule, the EC said.

The technical SOP enumerating the methodology and steps for checking and verification of burnt memory/ micro-controller of the EVM units will be issued by the EC in due course. 
Regional

34 people die in Tamil Nadu after consuming illicit arrack

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PTI, Kallakurichi/Chennai, Jun 20, 2024 :  The entire Karunapuram locality in Kallakurichi on Thursday echoed with the wails of the family members of the victims of illicit arrack that claimed the lives of at least 34 people. About 100 others are undergoing treatment.

Following the tragedy in the state’s northern district, the opposition lashed out at the DMK while the ruling party said it should not be assumed such issues happened only during its regime.

While Leader of Opposition Edappadi K Palaniswami demanded Chief Minister M K Stalin’s resignation, the CM said: “The Kallakurichi incident must not have happened and it has caused deep anguish to me.” The deaths were due to consumption of ‘methanol mixed arrack,’ he said, adding he has directed authorities to ensure special care to those being treated in hospitals.

Stalin, who held a meeting to review the situation, announced setting up of a one-man commission to be led by retired Madras High Court Judge B Gokuldas to make recommendations to the government on measures to be taken to prevent recurrence of such incidents and also look into the reasons for the deaths.

Four people linked to the sale of the poisonous arrack have been arrested so far, Stalin said and declared Rs 10 lakh assistance to each of the families of the deceased. Also, he announced Rs 50,000 assistance to those who are being treated in hospitals.
The state Home Secretary and Director General of Police will submit a report on the hooch tragedy following inspection.

The CM assured tough action against those who provided methanol for making the spurious concoction that became poisonous.

The entire Karunapuram, which has witnessed the deaths, including that of two women and one transgender, wore a gloomy look.

Heart-wrenching scenes, including that of a sobbing young girl, anxious relatives awaiting a medical update on their near and dear ones and women wailing in the streets were witnessed in this nondescript locality.

Leader of Opposition (LoP), Edappadi K Palaniswami visited the affected people, including three children who have apparently lost both their parents.

According to locals, a contributing factor for the increase in death toll is the ‘initial denial’ of district authorities including police for several hours on Wednesday that the deaths, which were less than five at that time, were not due to ‘illicit arrack.’ Several others consumed illicit arrack and some of them had got stored in their houses.
Meanwhile, #Resign Stalin trended on social media platform ‘X’ and several users targeted the ‘Dravidian model’ tagline of the DMK regime by posting messages using the hashtag #Saraya model (arrack model).

State BJP president K Annamalai announced a state-wide protest on June 22 against the ‘incompetence’ of the DMK government in curbing illicit liquor.

While the CB-CID officials began their probe in Kallakurichi, Stalin said he had directed them to probe the source of methanol and its complete destruction at the local level. Authorities had already seized about 200 litres of illicit arrack and an analysis disclosed the presence of deadly methanol.

Health Minister Ma Subramanian and PWD Minister EV Velu are in Kallakurichi to render help to the affected people. District Collector MS Prasanth said 116 people were admitted in various government-run facilities and out of them 34 died.

Palaniswami alleged the point of sale of illicit arrack “is the central place of Kallakurichi, close to the police station and court.” The AIADMK chief claimed “36 people have died.”

Addressing reporters in Kallakurichi, he said there is a ‘big gang’ behind the sale of illicit arrack which also has the involvement of ‘powerful persons’ who belong to the ruling DMK. “Otherwise, could the sale of illicit arrack happen in the central locality of the town and near the police station?” he asked.

Expressing anguish and recalling similar past incidents, he said his party legislator M Senthil Kumar (Kallakurichi Assembly constituency) had days ago complained about the menace of illicit arrack to local police. However, no action was taken.
On March 29, 2023, Senthil Kumar had submitted a call attention motion with Assembly officials. However, it was not taken up, he alleged. Had this been debated and action taken, such deaths could have been averted. “Illicit liquor is flowing like a river in Tamil Nadu.”

Ruling DMK’s allies–CPI and MDMK demanded tough legal action against those involved in the episode.

The Kallakurichi incident comes a year after the death of 21 people in Villupuram and Chengalpet districts after consuming spurious liquor.
National, Politics

Delhi Court Grants Bail To Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal In Liquor Policy Case

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Nupur Thapliyal, LiveLaw, 20 June 2024 : A Delhi Court on Thursday granted bail to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the money laundering case connected to the alleged liquor policy scam.


Vacation Judge Nyay Bindu of Rouse Avenue Courts passed the order after reserving it earlier today.


ED’s special counsel Zoheb Hossain prayed for stay of the order till the probe agency exercises its legal remedies. However, the court rejected the request for stay.


Kejriwal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on March 21. In May, he was granted interim bail by the Supreme Court till June 01 in view of general elections. He surrendered on June 2.


ASG SV Raju appearing for the Enforcement Directorate (ED) submitted that co accused Chanpreet Singh received huge cash amounts from entrepreneurs and paid bills of hotel stay of Arvind Kejriwal.


He said that it is not that the ED was doing investigation in the air and that the central probe agency has concrete evidence in the case.



“Kejriwal says my phone is sacrosanct. Mai password nahi dunga. (I will not give my password). We had to resort to the phone of Vinod Chauhan. He is sitting quiet. Many times it has happened that accused says I will not… An adverse inference has to be drawn from the fact that Kejriwal has refused to give his password. This is a ground for refusing bail under ordinary bail law, forget section 45 PMLA for the time being,” ASG said.

ASG further said that co accused Vijay Nair, who was unconnected with the government and had no business in framing of the excise policy, he was used as a middleman by Kejriwal and that his proximity with the Chief Minister is established beyond doubt.



Rebutting the submissions, Senior Advocate Vikram Chaudhari appearing for Kejriwal submitted that Manish Sisodia’s bail was rejected by the Supreme Court because he was seeking bail in two cases- scheduled case and the PMLA case.


He said that as of date, Kejriwal is not an accused in the CBI case and that on the contrary, the record stands that he was called as a witness.

“It is not for ED to guide the CBI. It is an independent agency which will take the call,” he said.



Chaudhari added: “Why did you not arrest him earlier? Why March 21? What did you want from him? Is the ED an independent agency or is it playing in the hands of some political masters? At the end of the day I am a political entity, I’ve to make such submissions.”


Furthermore, Chaudhari said that co accused Chanpreet Singh does not say anywhere that he has paid for AAP Goa elections or that he collected proceeds of crime.

“It was urged that one token number is recovered from Vinod Chauhan who is in direct touch with Kejriwal. What evidence you have against a sitting CM? What are these two chats which they have extracted? How would these chats even remotely show the transfer of money? It is presumption of ED….Chats are not related to the excise policy, or bribe, or any Goa elections. Just because Vinod Chauhan has a posting order in his phone, it is presumed that the posting is done by me. If this is believed then no one is safe. Just throw it in the air, throw it in media,” he said.


The senior counsel also said that merely because Vijay Nair was occupying a room in Minister Kailash Gehlot’s house, it cannot be speculated that there was some proximity or link between Kejriwal and him.


“Where do they get all that? Vijay Nair in his statement in 2022 stated that he reported to Ms. Atishi and Saurabh Bhardwaj. But ED continues to say that he was under my orders. There is no proof that I have ever instructed him to receive the bribe or do any meeting,” he said.


Yesterday, Chaudhari had said that Kejriwal had not been made an accused in the scheduled offence to date. He further submitted that the Chief Minister was not seeking any special status, although since he was a constitutional functionary, the chair ought to be respected.



He had questioned the credibility of the material put forth by ED, pointing towards statements of witnesses who were granted pardons and turned approvers in the case. He further questioned the timing of Kejriwal’s arrest by ED, submitting that he was arrested soon after the general elections were announced.

On the other hand, ED had submitted that there was no doubt as to the commission of a money laundering offence since cognizance had been taken by the concerned court and the cognizance order had not been challenged.


It was argued that it was for Kejriwal to show that he was not guilty of a PMLA offence, and in that regard, the fact that he holds a constitutional post is not relevant. On the issue of timing of arrest, it was claimed that arrest is the prerogative of the Investigating Officer and timing is irrelevant if a PMLA offence is made out.


Recently, Kejriwal’s plea seeking interim bail for seven days on medical grounds was dismissed by the court. It was said that the extensive campaigning done by him during elections showed that he was not suffering from any serious or life-threatening ailment so as to entitle him to bail under PMLA.


The court also said that Diabetes or even type-2 Diabetes cannot be said to be so serious an ailment so as to entitle Kejriwal to the relief claimed.



A few days ago, the ED filed a supplementary chargesheet in the money laundering case naming Kejriwal as well as the Aam Aadmi Party as the accused. The court reserved the order on cognizance of the seventh supplementary chargesheet filed by the probe agency.


On April 10, the Delhi High Court dismissed Kejriwal’s plea challenging his arrest, observing that ED was able to place enough material, statements of approvers and AAP’s own candidate stating that Kejriwal was given money for Goa elections.


AAP leaders Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh are also accused in the case. While Sisodia continues to remain in jail, Singh has been granted bail by the Supreme Court pursuant to a concession given by the ED.


ED has alleged that Arvind Kejriwal is the “kingpin” of the Delhi excise scam and is directly involved in the use of proceeds of crime accounting for over Rs. 100 crores. It is ED’s case that the excise policy was implemented as part of a conspiracy to give wholesale business profit of 12 per cent to certain private companies, although such a stipulation was not mentioned in the minutes of meetings of the Group of Ministers (GoM).


The Central agency has also claimed that there was a conspiracy coordinated by Vijay Nair and other individuals along with South Group to give extraordinary profit margins to wholesalers. Nair was acting on behalf of Kejriwal and Sisodia, according to the agency.
Education, National

SC notice to Centre, NTA on pleas for cancelling NEET- UG 2024; proceedings before HCs stayed

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PTI, New Delhi, Jun 20, 2024 :  The Supreme Court on Thursday sought responses from the Centre, the National Testing Agency (NTA) and others on petitions, including those seeking the scrapping of NEET-UG 2024 exam and a court-monitored probe into the alleged irregularities in the medical entrance test.


The apex court also stayed further proceedings on some pleas on the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (Undergraduate)-2024 examination pending before different high courts in the country.

A vacation bench of Justices Vikram Nath and SVN Bhatti issued notices to the parties seeking their responses on four separate pleas filed by the NTA seeking transfer of some pending petitions, including those concerning alleged paper leak, from the high courts to the apex court.

As the bench issued notices on NTA’s petitions, the counsel appearing for the agency urged that proceedings in these matters before the high court be stayed.

“Issue notice, returnable on July 8,” the bench said, adding, “In the meantime, further proceedings before the high courts shall remain stayed”.

It also dealt with several other petitions, including the one filed by 20 students who had appeared in the medical entrance test and are seeking scrapping of the exam which was held on May 5.

They have also sought a direction to the NTA and others to conduct the test afresh.

The bench, which issued notices to the Centre, NTA and others seeking their responses on these petitions, said the pleas would be heard on July 8 along with other pending matters concerning the NEET-UG 2024.

During the hearing, the bench made clear that it was not staying the counselling process.

“All this has been argued from day one and they (some petitioners) have been wanting stay of counselling. We have denied that,” the bench observed. “Ultimately, if all of you succeed, everything will go. The examination goes and the counselling will also go.” An advocate, appearing for one of the petitioners, said the counselling can be deferred until after July 8.

The bench asked the NTA’s counsel about the counselling. “The counselling will start on July 6, but it will not finish on July 6. It will take time,” the NTA’s counsel said.

Another counsel informed the bench that a person has been arrested in Bihar in connection with the probe into alleged irregularities in the exam.

The lawyer said FIRs have been lodged in Bihar and Gujarat regarding the alleged irregularities and the police should be asked to give status report of their investigation in these matter.

During the hearing, the bench observed that petitioners in the matter were making similar arguments.

The counsel appearing for the Centre said many a times, coaching institutes have also come as petitioners.

“They have a right to come. Because their business is … these students only and if you play with them and you meddle with their rights, then these coaching centres will come,” the bench observed.

While hearing separate pleas concerning the NEET (Undergraduate)-2024 examination, the apex court had on June 18 said even if there was “0.001 per cent negligence” on the part of anyone in the conduct of the examination, it should be thoroughly dealt with.

The NTA conducts the all India pre-medical entrance test.

While hearing separate petitions raising grievances over the NEET-UG 2024, the apex court had last week sought responses from the Centre and the NTA on a plea for a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into allegations of question paper leak and other irregularities in the exam.

The Centre and the NTA had on June 13 told the top court that they had cancelled the grace marks given to 1,563 candidates who took the examination for admission to MBBS and other such courses.

They will have the option to either take a retest or forgo the compensatory marks awarded to them for the loss of time, the Centre had said.

The examination was held on May 5 across 4,750 centres and around 24 lakh candidates took it. The results were expected to be declared on June 14 but were announced on June 4, apparently because the evaluation of the answer sheets got completed earlier.

There have been allegations of question paper leaks in states like Bihar and other irregularities in the prestigious exam.

The allegations have led to protests in several cities and filing of petitions in several high courts as also the Supreme Court. Scores of students protested in Delhi on June 10 seeking a probe into alleged irregularities.

As many as 67 students scored a perfect 720, unprecedented in the NTA’s history, with six from a centre in Haryana’s Faridabad figuring in the list, raising suspicions about irregularities. It has been alleged that grace marks contributed to 67 students sharing the top rank.

The NEET-UG examination is conducted by the NTA for admissions to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH and other related courses in government and private institutions across the country. 
National, Politics

NEET row Opposition accuses govt NTA of destroying future of students

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PTI, New Delhi, July 20, 2024 : Opposition leaders on Thursday launched a scathing attack on the government and the National Testing Agency over alleged irregularities in the NEET exam as well as the cancellation of UGC-NET and accused them of destroying the future of students.

    Some opposition leaders have also demanded the sacking of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and the disbanding of the National Testing Agency (NTA), claiming paper leak is an “anti-national activity” as it plays with the future of students.
    Leading the opposition attack, Rahul Gandhi alleged the main reason for paper leaks is that educational institutions have been “captured” by the BJP and its parent organisation RSS, and paper leaks will not stop unless it is reversed.
    “Prime Minister Narendra Modi has facilitated this capture. This (paper leak) is an anti-national activity as it severely harms the country’s youth, who are the nation’s future and it hurts students,” he said.
    The former Congress chief also alleged the BJP government at the Centre wants to “expand the “Vyapam model” of Madhya Pradesh.
    The scam in Vyapam or Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board broke out in 2013, wherein candidates had bribed officials and rigged exams by deploying imposters to write their answers.
    On Wednesday, the University Grants Commission cancelled the UGC-NET examination, a day after it was held, upon receiving certain inputs from the National Cyber Crime Threat Analytics Unit of the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) over the exam.
    Amid demands by the opposition to re-conduct NEET, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said isolated incidents of malpractice should not affect lakhs of students who cleared the examination rightfully. He also announced a high-level panel to look into the functioning of the NTA.
    Taking a dig at PM Modi, Gandhi said, “It was being said that PM Modi stopped the Ukraine-Russia war and the Israel-Gaza war, but he is either not able to stop exam paper leaks or doesn’t want to.”
    “The silence is because the prime minister is crippled. Right now the prime minister’s agenda is the Speaker (post). He is not bothered about NEET. He wants his government to scrape through and he gets his Speaker’s post. That’s where his mind is right now,” he said when asked why the government is silent on NEET.
    At a press conference, Gandhi said, “The Opposition is simply not going to allow any of this eye wash that is taking place. We will make sure that we put so much pressure on them, that the issue is resolved.”
    The Congress hit out at PM Modi after the cancellation of the UGC-NET exam, saying every year he conducts a “grand tamasha” of what he calls ‘Pareeksha pe Charcha’ and yet his government cannot even conduct an examination without leaks and frauds.
    Claiming that the integrity of NTA is under severe doubt, party general secretary Jairam Ramesh asked whether the prime minister would speak on this “leak” (“leak pe speak”).
    Party president Mallikarjun Kharge asked when would the prime minister hold “NEET pareeksha pe charcha”.
    Trinamool Congress MP Saket Gokhale, in a post on ‘X’, said, “The examination process structure of our country has crashed. Paper leaks and irregularities are rampant and the useless NTA is complicit in it.”
    He also referred to the cancellation of the UGC-NET exam and said, “The lives and futures of our students are being destroyed every day and the NDA 1.0 govt is shameless to even take responsibility.”
    Gokhale also said, “Incompetent education minister Dharmendra Pradhan has been repeated again despite being an utter failure. The same is with Ashwini Vaishnaw as railway minister and now we saw a train crash just days ago. They need to be sacked.”
    Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav alleged the “paper mafia” was “rigging exams” under the BJP rule. “This could also be someone’s big conspiracy against the country,” he charged on ‘X’.
    While the CPI(M), in a post on X, accused the government of making a mockery of the education system, (RJD) MP Manoj Jha said the NEET exam should also be cancelled.
    CPI(M) Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas raised concern over questions asked in the UGC-NET exam.
    “When NEET to NET collapses… see how saffronisation (is) done; NET qstns (questions) for a Theatre student — Ayodhya pran pratishtha date, how Hanuman is described, the shloka in Ramayana, beheaded but kept alive in Mahabharata, Hindi exponent. How do we intend to mould our next generation?” he said.
    Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan urged the Centre to take immediate steps to resolve the crisis in the National Testing Agency (NTA), saying its “repeated incompetence” in conducting exams such as NEET and the UGC-NET cannot be accepted.
    “The controversy over NEET has barely subsided and now the Ministry of Education has announced the cancellation of UGC-NET, citing compromised exam integrity. This repeated incompetence is unacceptable, leaving students in limbo and wasting public money,” he said on ‘X’.
    Demanding Pradhan’s resignation and scrapping of the NTA, CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury expressed solidarity with the students “in their struggle to safeguard their academic standards from being destroyed by this ND alliance government led by Modi”.
    He said the students who appeared for UGC-NET and NEET, must be compensated by the Centre. “Roll back the recently adopted system of mandatory NET score for PhD admissions. Withdraw proposals to replace existing admission procedures with centralised entrance tests,” he said.
    CPI leader D Raja said, “What’s happening under the Ministry of Education is nothing short of criminal.”
    “They imposed the anti-federal, anti-poor NEET and jeopardised the medical education system of our country, depriving the marginalised of quality medical education. NTA’s incompetency in conducting exams got exposed again after the cancellation of UGC-NET after paper leaks,” he alleged.
    NCP (SP) leader Supriya Sule accused the government of being insensitive towards the issues of farmers, women and students, and sought the formation of a special investigation team to probe the alleged irregularities in the NEET (UG) and other exams.    She said the NDA government cancelled the UGC-NET exam over integrity and fairness concerns.
    “This raises a burning question: Can the NDA government truly ensure fair examinations or will exams be cancelled one after another due to widespread frauds at play? The NDA govt previously claimed no NEET papers were leaked, but the further arrests made by Bihar Police suggest otherwise, yet no action has been taken by the NDA government.”
    AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi slammed the Modi government, saying it was unable to conduct even one exam properly and sought to know what steps it was taking to prevent question paper leaks in future.