DMK cheif M K Stalin, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) leader Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS).
Credit: PTI Photos
Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Monday asked whether the AIADMK was prepared to make NEET exemption for the state a precondition for its alliance with the BJP in the 2026 assembly polls, seeking to put both parties on the mat.
Stalin posed a series of questions to Leader of Opposition and AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami during the debate on Demand for Grants for Health Department.
The debate was centered around the number of medical colleges that were established during the 2011-2021 AIADMK rule and in the past four of the DMK administration under Stalin. It was then Transport Minister S S Shivashankar alleged that the 11 medical colleges that were established in the state during the AIADMK rule were a quid quo pro for allowing NEET in Tamil Nadu when Palaniswami was the Chief Minister.
Palaniswami countered Shivashankar saying it was in 2010 when the DMK was part of the Congress-led UPA-II that NEET was first conceived and made mandatory by the Supreme Court later.
He also claimed that senior counsel, the wife of a Congress leader, argued in favor of NEET, in a veiled reference to former Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram.
At this point, Stalin intervened and told Palaniswami that a window has opened now with the AIADMK and BJP clinching an alliance for next year’s election. “There is a chance to solve the crisis. I don’t even want to get into whether what we did was right or wrong. I want to ask the AIADMK whether it has the guts to say Tamil Nadu should get exemption from NEET if the party has to ally with the BJP,” Stalin said.
In his response, Palaniswami said since the issue of NEET is sub-judice, only the Supreme Court could take a decision. However, Stalin sought to know what forced the AIADMK to reconsider its decision of not allying with the BJP and whether the party was ready to get exemption for NEET.
Palaniswami said there was nothing wrong with the AIADMK entering an alliance with the BJP, given that the DMK has allied with the Congress, against which the anti-Hindi agitation originated in the state.
Later, speaking to reporters outside the assembly, Palaniswami said Stalin’s statement shows that he was jittery about the AIADMK-BJP alliance.
NEET is an emotive issue in Tamil Nadu as people believe that a nation-wide entrance test for admission into medical and dental colleges puts students from rural areas in a disadvantaged position as they have to compete with those from urban areas who have the luxury of attending coaching classes to crack the exam.
Over two dozen students have ended their lives either due to the fear of appearing for the exam or due to the fear of losing. After the DMK came to power in 2021, the Assembly passed a bill seeking exemption for NEET but Governor R N Ravi returned the legislation following which the House re-enacted and sent it back to him.
Ravi sent the Bill to the President of India in May 2022, which was withheld till April 2025.