Tamil Nadu’s ruling TVK on Tuesday said it was not just against irregularities in NEET, but wanted the medical entrance examination scrapped altogether. The party also demanded that states be given full powers over matters related to medical education.

Amid student protests over NEET in Delhi, the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam said its stand on the issue was “uncompromising and firm” and that the national-level entrance test for medical aspirants should be abolished. It also said education should be moved from the Concurrent List to the State List of the Constitution as part of the solution.

In a statement, the TVK targeted the main opposition DMK without naming it and said it would never indulge in the “fraudulent politics” of deceiving people for votes by making false promises to “scrap NEET ourselves”. The DMK had, ahead of the 2021 Assembly elections, promised to scrap NEET after coming to power.

The party said that if there were legal or procedural hurdles in moving education to the State List, a Special Concurrent List should be created as an interim measure until the issues were resolved to grant powers to state governments. It said this would ensure that states had full authority over education, including medical education. “This is our vision for both a permanent and an interim solution. Our victorious leader (Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay) has already emphasised this,” the party said.

The TVK also said that those indulging in the unethical politics of “putting their own label” on others’ hard work, ideas and struggles should immediately stop targeting the party. Its statement came against the backdrop of criticism by Leader of the Opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin over the government’s handling of rap singer ‘Therukkural’ Arivu, who has taken a strong stand against NEET. Before being whisked away by the police, Arivu briefly raised anti-NEET slogans outside the Tamil Nadu Secretariat in the Fort St George campus in Chennai.

In sum, the TVK said NEET should be abolished, called for states to be given full control over education and medical education, and reiterated that this remained its firm position amid the continuing political row over the issue.

– Ends

Published By:

India Today Web Desk

Published On:

Jul 22, 2026 03:49 IST