CHENNAI: Sparks flew in the Assembly on Monday as Chief Minister MK Stalin and Leader of the Opposition Edappadi K Palaniswami clashed over NEET and the alliance between the principal opposition party and the BJP.
While Stalin dared Palaniswami whether the latter was ready to place abolition of NEET as a condition for continuing ties with the BJP, the LoP charged that the DMK came to power in 2021 by giving a false promise of abolishing NEET.
Intervening in the discussion on the demands for grants for the health department, Transport Minister SS Sivasankar charged that the union government gifted 11 medical colleges to Tamil Nadu during the previous AIADMK regime in reciprocation for the latter’s ‘betrayal’ over NEET.
AIADMK MLAs objected to this strongly, and Palaniswami alleged that it was the Congress-led UPA government, in which DMK was present, that introduced NEET.
Sivasankar responded that when DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi and even late AIADMK leader J Jayalalithaa were chief ministers, NEET did not enter Tamil Nadu and it did only during Palaniswami’s regime.
Palaniswami hit back saying it was the wife of a senior Congress leader who appeared in Supreme Court for her clients demanding the continuance of NEET and got a ruling in favour.
At this juncture, Stalin intervened and asked Palaniswami, “Now, there is a good opportunity before you to resolve this. Do you have the guts to tell (the BJP) that you would continue in the alliance only if NEET is abolished?”
Evading a direct response, Palaniswami said NEET continued due to Supreme Court’s verdict. “Can we go against the verdict of the apex court?” he asked.
The CM insisted on eliciting an answer from Palaniswami as to whether he would tell the union government that NEET is unnecessary.
To this, Palaniswami said only the apex court can offer a solution and reminded that it was the DMK that promised in 2021 that it would do away with NEET if voted to power.
Acknowledging the promise, Stalin said, “Had our alliance formed the government at the centre, we would have abolished NEET” and persisted on his challenge to Palaniswami.
Palaniswami reacted sharply saying it was not the AIADMK which assumed office in 2021 by cheating the public.
Stalin retorted, saying the DMK did not cheat the people, but it was the AIADMK that cheated by going against its promise that it will not ally with the BJP even in 2031 Assembly elections. “Who are you enacting this drama for,” he asked.
Countering the charge, Palaniswami said the DMK aligned with the Congress despite opposing it in the past and therefore there was nothing wrong in AIADMK-BJP alliance.
Talking to reporters outside the Assembly, Palaniswami said the CM’s “nervous” remarks showed that he is “jittery” about the AIADMK-BJP alliance.
AIADMK is forming a strong alliance to win the 2026 Assembly election to ensure that votes do not get split. He recalled how Karunanidhi and former union minister Murasoli Maran justified the DMK-BJP alliance in 1999.