The Trinamool Congress has decided to take the battle back to the enemy camp by launching a counterattack on the National Eligibility Test (NET) issue, cornered by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Bengal over the Teachers’ Eligibility Test (TET) issue. The party will strongly raise the alleged scam that took place in the NEET-UG and NET exams involving over 35 lakh aspirants, and is likely to coordinate with all opposition outfits including the Congress Party to do so.
“What has taken place in the NEET and NET exams is a matter of grave concern… it is a big big scam and has to be dealt with strongly… we will raise the issue strongly in parliament and go to the end of it,” senior TMC parliamentarian Sudip Bandopadhyay said a day before the new Lok Sabha meets on Monday.
The NEET-UG is conducted every year to select candidates for medical courses, while the joint CSIR UGC-NET is conducted to determine the eligibility of aspirants for Junior Research Fellowship, Assistant Professor positions, and PhD admissions. The Bengal Education Minister Bratya Basu has expressed concern over the issue, saying that the government is doing an “eye-wash” by removing officials and that the students are agitating on the roads. Basu has also demanded a thorough investigation and asked the government to take responsibility for its officials’ conduct.
Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar (Via Sukanta Majumdar /Twitter)
The TMC has been fighting against corruption cases, including the cash-for-teachers’ jobs scam that saw several of its ministers and MLAs go to jail. The party’s claims have been rejected by the Union Minister and Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar, who said that the TMC government is stuck neck-deep in corruption and that investigations have started and those found guilty will not be spared. Majumdar has also asked the TMC leaders to look at their own leaders before criticizing others.
The Left has hit out at both the BJP and the TMC, saying that the BJP government has come out with its own version of scams to match those done by the TMC. According to senior leader and central committee member Sujan Chakrabarty, “for Mamata Banerjee Governments SSC and TET scams the Modi Government has come out with NEET and NET scams.”
