CHENNAI: DMK president MK Stalin and Law Minister CVe Shanmugam on Wednesday sparred over the status of two NEET Bills and dared each other to resign from their positions. In the end, Stalin led his party colleagues in a walkout, stating that the government had failed to give a satisfactory reply on the issue. Meanwhile, the House also witnessed arguments between Congress floor leader KR Ramasamy and Health Minister C Vijaya Baskar over this issue.
Stalin charged that the State government had been arguing that the two NEET Bills were pending in the President’s office, contrary to the fact that the information about the Bills being withheld, was communicated by the Ministry of Home Affairs. Since more than 19 months had lapsed after this communication, the Assembly had lost the opportunity to resend these bills to the President within six months.
“Since this is a blatant betrayal of this government toward the medical students of Tamil Nadu, the law minister should step down, owning moral responsibility for this development,” Stalin said. Sharply responding, the law minister pointed out that two days ago, he had clearly stated that the House was informed about the Bills being withheld in June 2018. Though the State government had sought the reasons for withholding the assent for these Bills, the Centre was yet to respond till date.
“From the date of receipt of reasons for withholding the bills, Tamil Nadu government will have six months time thereon. So, we still have time to resend these Bills. The Leader of Opposition can consult any legal expert on this aspect. I am ready to step down on this issue if I am wrong. Is the Leader of Opposition ready to step down ?” questioned Shanmugam.
When Congress floor leader KR Ramasamy made certain charges against the ministers, the Speaker expunged them. Intervening, the chief minister said, “People knew well as to who has come out on bail and been seeking adjournments out of fear to face the case against them. The notification issued by the UPA regime for NEET was the root cause of all problems for the students of Tamil Nadu.”