Minister Priyank Kharge Questions PM's Delayed Response to NEET Issue

Karnataka Home Minister Priyank Kharge on Friday questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's delayed response to the alleged NEET irregularities, saying the students' demand was for the removal of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and not mere assurances.

Reacting to the Prime Minister's video message to students ahead of the Union Cabinet meeting, Kharge said the Centre had failed to announce any concrete action and accused it of ignoring the demand for accountability.

"If it was so important, what took him so long to speak up? I would have been extremely grateful to the PM if he came out and said in the video that I am throwing Dharmendra Pradhan out of my cabinet. But that never happened. The demand is simple: Dharmendra Pradhan should go," Kharge, who is Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge's son, told reporters.

Questioning why the Union Education Minister continued in office, Kharge said, "Why is Dharmendra Pradhan so indispensable? What secrets does he carry of Modi or of Shah? They have enough time to mock the Congress, but when it comes to the students' future, what concrete thing has he said?" Referring to the Centre's proposed measures, he said, "He said he is going to set up a fast-track court, and what happened? The prime accused was let off on the same day. What justice can the children expect? So I think it's not substantial; it is not good enough".

On police action against protesting students, Kharge accused the Centre of suppressing dissent.

"The government is scared. The two biggest cowards in the country today are the Home Minister and the Prime Minister of the country. This is what they are doing to our children," he alleged.

He said students were not protesting for financial benefits but demanding reforms and accountability.

"They are asking for educational reforms. They are asking the person responsible for disturbing their future, for disrupting their future, to resign," he said.

Alleging excessive use of force, Kharge said, "They are using pellets, they are using tear gases, they are using BJP and RSS people in mufti, in civil clothes, to attack students. Isn't this cowardly?" Replying to another question on fresh US tariffs on Indian goods, Kharge alleged that India's foreign policy had become dependent on US President Donald Trump.

"I have been telling you that India's foreign policy has been outsourced to US President Donald Trump. This friendship with Trump is costing our farmers, is costing our ecosystem heavily. And the Prime Minister has quietly surrendered to the whims and fancies of one man," he said.