2 days ago
5
NEW DELHI: Congress leader
Rahul Gandhi
on Friday alleged that a debate on the alleged irregularities in the conduct of medical entrance exam
NEET
was not allowed in Parliament on the directions of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"It is unfortunate that the government did not want a debate. It seemed to me that the direction was directly from the Prime Minister.
It is sad that Prime Minister of India who in fact should be leading the discussion and should be telling us about his opinion and should be telling us about what he is going to do simply does not want a debate," Rahul Gandhi said in a video message.
"This is an issue that has affected 2 crore students. 70 times in 7 years, papers have been leaked. It's clear that there is a systemic problem, it is clear that there is huge amount of corruption and we simply cannot continue like this," the leader of opposition claimed.
Rahul said that the opposition parties were unanimous in their view on the need for a one-day
discussion on NEET
and were committed to a debate in peaceful and accommodative manner. "The idea behind having a discussion was that we get a resolution to this issue because crores and crores of people, their family members are in pain, they don't know what is going to happen in the future and it's important that we give them clarity," the leader of opposition said.
Earlier today, as the House assembled in the morning, the opposition moved an adjournment motion demanding that all business be suspended and matters related to NEET be discussed first. However, Speaker Om Birla and parliamentary affairs minister
Kiren Rijiju
insisted that opposition members could discuss NEET issue during the course of Motion of Thanks on the President's address.
Speaker said there are certain norms of Parliament that have to be followed and committees have to be formed to which Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi said students are not aware of it. They are only demanding justice.
As members from the Congress, TMC and DMK parties stormed the Well, Rijiju said it is for the first time that the opposition is seen demanding a discussion on an issue before the House takes up the Motion of Thanks on the President's address.
"I assure the opposition we will answer any issue that you raise during the Motion of Thanks discussion," Rijiju said.
As members continued with sloganeering, Birla said "There is a difference between protest on the road and protest inside the House ... You (Opposition) don't want House to run? You don't want to discuss NEET during Motion of Thanks discussion?"
With no end to stalemate,
Lok Sabha
was adjourned for the day.
Amid the storm over the issue, Lok Sabha witnessed some unusual scenes as Rahul Gandhi claimed that his microphone was turned off and asked the Speaker to switch it on, to which the latter gave a quick rejoinder.
Replying to Rahul’s charge, Om Birla said, ”I don’t have any button to switch off the microphone. There existed a similar set-up earlier also. There is no mechanism to gag the microphone.”
A video posted by Congress on X shows Rahul asking the Lok Speaker to switch on his microphone. Sharing the video, Congress claimed that a conspiracy was being hatched to silence the voice of the Opposition and students despite lakhs of students staring at a bleak future.
The viral video, depicting the Congress leader and Speaker ‘barb-trading’ has been shared by the Congress on its X handle.
(With inputs from agencies)
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