The Opposition intensified its attack over the alleged examination irregularities as the Monsoon Session opened, with student issues taking centre stage inside Parliament.
Image Source: ANI
The Samajwadi Party (SP) staged a protest inside the Parliament premises on Monday, the opening day of the Monsoon Session, demanding a discussion on the alleged NEET paper leak issue. Party leaders raised slogans against the government and accused it of failing to protect the interests of students.
Several SP MPs, including Dimple Yadav, Krishna Devi, Shivshankar Patel, Iqra Choudhary, Zia Ur Rahman and others, took part in the demonstration. The leaders held a banner carrying the words “Paper Leak” and shouted slogans such as “NEET hai ya CHEAT hai” to highlight what they called serious irregularities in the examination process.
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The protest was held while extending support to the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP).
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SP chief Akhilesh Yadav strongly criticised the BJP-led central government, claiming that students’ voices were being ignored.
He said students wanted the government to hear their concerns but alleged that instead of dialogue, they were being stopped through police action, including lathi-charge, when they tried to reach Parliament.
Akhilesh also claimed that repeated examination paper leaks had taken place in Uttar Pradesh. According to him, an audit conducted by the Samajwadi Party found that more than 20 examination papers had been leaked in the state. He alleged that no arrests were made because BJP members were involved, though he did not provide evidence to support the claim.
Continuing his attack, Akhilesh Yadav alleged that the government was not filling government jobs because doing so would require implementing reservation policies. He also claimed that providing government jobs would reduce opportunities for corruption.
Expressing concern over the treatment of protesters, he said it was unfortunate that demonstrators had allegedly faced lathi-charge. He also encouraged party members who wished to visit Jantar Mantar to do so and convey the message that the Samajwadi Party stood with the protesters.
Before joining the protest, SP MP Dimple Yadav said that young people across the country wanted to express their concerns, but the government was unwilling to engage with them.
She referred to climate activist Sonam Wangchuk’s appeal for dialogue and alleged that the government had refused to listen despite repeated demands from students and other voices.
Dimple Yadav said the Samajwadi Party stood with students and planned to march to Jantar Mantar. She alleged that the examination system had become corrupt and claimed that students were suffering from immense mental stress because of it.
During the protest, she also accused the government of not supporting fair examinations or fair elections.
SP MP Zia Ur Rahman said the party had raised students’ concerns inside Parliament and urged the government to hold talks with the protesters. Referring to Sonam Wangchuk, he alleged that the activist had been forcibly removed from the protest site and called for dialogue instead of confrontation.
SP MP Iqra Choudhary demanded the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, saying the issue required accountability from the government and the Education Minister should step down.
Meanwhile, SP MP Rajeev Kumar Rai accused the government of irregularities throughout the examination process, from the paper to the conduct of the exam. He said the party stood with the protesters while continuing its criticism of the government’s handling of the issue.
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