BJP leader and former union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad criticised the opposition, especially Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, following the NEET verdict by the Supreme Court. Prasad accused Gandhi of defaming India's reputation globally with his strong words.
Prasad said Gandhi's choice of words violated Parliament's dignity and the dignity of the office of the Leader of Opposition, the position Gandhi holds. He also dismissed Gandhi's criticism of the budget as a 'kursi bachao budget', saying it was not the BJP's fault if people have repeatedly rejected him and his party in the elections.
"The Supreme Court said yesterday that there is no need to conduct the exam again because it will create a lot of problems, the children's session will be messed up. Those who have given the exam honestly, their future will go into darkness. Those who are SC, ST and OBC reservation children will face problems, so the court said that we will not cancel the exam... Our question is that when the work has been done with so much honesty, then why was Rahul Gandhi spreading confusion about this exam, does he want to defame India's examination system in the world... Will Rahul Gandhi apologise?" he said.
He criticised Rahul Gandhi for using terms like 'fraud' to attack the examination, claiming that paper leaks were common during Congress-led governments. He also mentioned that the Modi government enacted a strong law against paper leak incidents.
The BJP accused Rahul Gandhi of undermining trust in India's examination system following the NEET-UG paper leak at a few locations. This criticism comes after the Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed pleas seeking cancellation and re-test of the exam, stating there was no evidence of a 'systemic breach' that compromised the exam's integrity. The court noted that the leak occurred in a few cities.
Defending the government's action on the NEET row, the BJP leader stated that the probe was handed over to the CBI and the candidature of 155 examinees was cancelled. He highlighted that over 23.5 lakh students took the exam at 4,750 centres across 571 cities.