Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president Manickam Tagore during a protest against the alleged NEET paper leak, expressing solidarity with students, at T. Nagar in Chennai.
| Photo Credit: Johan Sathyadas J
Tamil Nadu Congress Committee organised a public meeting in T. Nagar, in Chennai, in protest against the police action on young students and protesters in New Delhi demanding the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan among other demands, bringing together its allies in Tamil Nadu.
Speaking at the meeting, TNCC president Manickam Tagore took a dig against DMK stating that CPI (M) was the only party that met the families of NEET aspirants who took their own lives due to the mismanagement in conducting the exam.
“Around 1,74,000 aspirants take the exam from Tamil Nadu and 74000 students qualify. Out of the 74000 students, only 13000 students can get an admission. This year, 21 students took their own lives and four students in Tamil Nadu died by suicide. The only party that met the families before we did…is CPI (M). Where is the Opposition party leader now? Many students write the exam for years, giving the students anxiety about their futures when their friends complete their degrees. They also spend lakhs in coaching classes. The defeat and guilt faced by students is driving them to suicide,” he said.
Mr. Tagore said that Mr. Pradhan should have resigned by himself, taking moral responsibility for the NEET fiasco. However, the RSS and the BJP have no morals. They never take any responsibility. Whenever people protested against them, they walked back. They may look fierce, but if you raise your voice, they fold,” he said, adding that they were forced to walk back on Farm Laws, Land Acquisition Bill and demand for the resignation of the Chief Minister in Manipur.
He added that Lok Sabha Opposition leader, Rahul Gandhi has been raising the issue of paper leaks for many years. “PM Modi is unable to understand the pain of students since he himself is uneducated. In the parliament, we have been protesting along with CPI (M), VCK and others. Two other parties – DMK and AIADMK – have been quiet in the parliament,” he said. CPI(M) M.P. Su. Venkatesan said that there have been major protests in the last 12 years – against CAA, NRC, SIR, abrogation of 370, farm laws and it went on for many months. “But, our students have achieved victory in days. It is not just the resignation of one minister, but a blow to the ego of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. They forced him to upload a selfie-video at midnight,” he said. MDMK chief Vaiko said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s time in office will be numbered if the BJP continues to impose Hindutva and deny rights to the States and praised the youngsters for achieving the feat.
School education minister Rajmohan, Social Justice Minister Vanni Arasu, Tourism Minister S. Rajesh Kumar and others participated.
Published – July 26, 2026 05:30 am IST
