In a tone that marked a nuanced shift in his approach towards the Central government, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (Amma)’s sidelined deputy general secretary T.T.V. Dhinakaran on Tuesday called for a demonstration to be held in Chennai on Saturday against the National Entrance-cum-Eligibility Test (NEET) for medical courses.
This follows the plan of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and allies to hold a similar event in Tiruchi on Friday.
In a statement, Mr Dhinakaran, who had, till now, sounded conciliatory towards the Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP)-led Central government and expressed support to the BJP at the time of the Presidential election, said the Union government, with the “aid” of the State government, had “imposed” NEET on students, “depriving opportunities” for students of the State to pursue medical education.
Referring to the alleged suicide of Anitha, he said this had left the State “very disturbed.” Late Chief Minister Jayalalithaa was firm in her stand against NEET, which had sought to “take away rights of the State government”. “The State government’s rights are being deprived gradually. This should not continue,” he said, adding that the students’ wing of the party would organise the event near the office of Chennai Collector on Saturday morning.
