Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is set to interact with students in Kota on Wednesday evening as part of his party's campaign on paper leaks and youth issues, an event that has triggered a political row in Rajasthan over its timing ahead of the NEET re-exam and criticised by the ruling BJP as "political tourism".
The programme, to be held at an open theatre in Kota, is being positioned by the Congress as the first in a series of nationwide student conventions.
The campaign seeks to highlight the challenges faced by young people due to alleged paper leaks, rising examination costs and what the party described as the government's failure to ensure a fair and transparent recruitment and education system.
The Congress has alleged that the BJP was attempting to prevent students from participating in the event and that calls were made from Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla's office in Kota to coaching institutes, PG and guest house operators, asking them to ensure that no student from their establishments attends the event.
Birla is from Kota and represents the Kota-Bundi parliamentary constituency.
Former chief minister Ashok Gehlot alleged that posters and hoardings related to the interaction programme were being removed by the administration under pressure of the BJP government and called it a "political conspiracy" Gehlot said hoardings of the BJP programmes are allowed without obstruction but those related to the Congress event were being selectively removed.
"In Kota, hoardings of Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi's programme were removed by the administration. When BJP programmes are held, the administration extends full cooperation," Gehlot said.
He alleged that attempts were being made to create pressure on coaching institutions and students ahead of the programme.
The move to discourage students from attending the programme and removal of hoardings show that BJP is afraid of Rahul Gandhi's programme, he claimed.
"First coaching institutes were threatened, then pressure was put on students, and now hoardings are being removed. Why is the BJP so afraid?" he said.
Gehlot said such actions would not suppress the voice of students and claimed that a large number of students were expected to participate in the programme.
"Students' voices cannot be silenced by removing hoardings. Because of this authoritarian attitude, a large number of students will participate in the programme in Kota today," he said.
As part of the preparations for the programme, a 'Nukkad Natak' was organised in Kota on Tuesday evening which was attended by Leader of Opposition in Rajasthan Assembly Tikaram Jully and other leaders who motivated students to attend the programme.
PCC chief Govind Singh Dotasra held a meeting of the party leaders and workers to finalise the preparations of the event.
Dotasra said the Centre should take responsibility for repeated examination irregularities and demanded accountability from Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
"For the last three years, NEET papers have been leaked, yet no one is being held accountable," he said, questioning why no judicial probe or parliamentary committee investigation had been ordered.
Senior BJP leader and former leader of opposition Rajendra Rathore termed the event a "political tourism" and alleged that the Congress had failed to act on paper leak issues during its tenure.
"Congress' prince is coming to Kota for political tourism. When paper leaks happened during Congress rule, where was Rahul Gandhi," Rathore said.
He alleged that the programme would not result in a genuine interaction with students and would instead be reduced to a managed gathering.
The timing of the event has been questioned by some students.
A NEET aspirant, who did not wished to be named, said when the paper leak happened, there was anger but now the priority is to appear in the exam rather than attending a meeting.
"It would have been better if the meeting had been scheduled after the NEET re-examination. The entire issue revolves around the alleged NEET paper leak and if the aspirants who have been directly affected are unable to attend the programme because of exam preparations, then what is the logic behind holding the event at this time?" he said.
The Congress is expecting that nearly 10,000 students would attend the interaction at the open theatre. Gandhi will interact with the students on the issues of paper leak, unemployment and no political speech will be made, a party leader said.
The event is the first in a series of student conventions that Gandhi will address across the country.
Kota in Rajasthan is a prominent coaching hub in the country where nearly 1.2 lakh students are preparing for NEET and JEE in various coaching institutes.
The National Testing Agency (NTA) is set to re-conduct the NEET-UG exam on June 21 for admission into medical courses. The medical entrance test, held on May 3, was cancelled by the NTA on May 12 amid allegations of a paper leak. The CBI is currently investigating the case.
