'PM Continues As If...': Sonia Gandhi's All-Out Attack Against Centre On NEET Row, Manipur Violence

sonia gandhi's all-out attack against centre on neet paper leak case, manipur violence

New Delhi: Congress leader Sonia Gandhi on Saturday reacted to the first session of Parliament, which included intense exchanges between the government and the opposition over issues, including the post of Deputy Speaker and the NEET row. She hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, stating that while he preaches the "value of consensus," his actions show that he "values confrontation," citing the NEET-UG paper leak case and Manipur violence as examples.

In an editorial in The Hindu, Sonia Gandhi argued that there was a lack of evidence to support Prime Minister Modi's third term based on the electoral outcome. “The Prime Minister continues as if nothing has changed. He preaches the value of consensus but continues to value confrontation. There is not the slightest evidence that he has come to terms with the electoral outcome, or understood the verdict and has reflected on the message sent to him by millions of voters.” the Rajya Sabha MP wrote.

Notably, in the 2024 general elections, the BJP's victory count was comparatively lower than its 2019 tally of 303 seats and the 282 seats it won in 2014. Meanwhile, the Congress party showed strong growth, winning 99 seats compared to the 52 seats it secured in 2019 and the 44 seats in 2014.

She wrote that it was only fair and expected that the post of Deputy Speaker should be given to a member of the Opposition.

While the BJP attacked the Congress by bringing up the Emergency, Sonia Gandhi claimed that PM Modi raised this issue to divert attention from the current “assault on the Constitution.” She wrote, “It is a fact of history that in March 1977 the people of our country gave a categorical verdict on the Emergency, which was accepted unhesitatingly and unequivocally. That less than three years later the party that was humbled in March 1977 was returned to power, with a majority never achieved by Mr. Modi and his party, is also very much part of that history.”

NEET Paper Leak Case

Raising the NEET paper leak case, senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi pointed out that it has wreaked havoc on the lives of lakhs of young people. She said that the Education Minister's immediate response was to deny the severity of the situation.

“The Prime Minister who does his ‘Pariksha pe Charcha’ has been conspicuously silent on the leaks that have devastated so many families across the country. The inevitable ‘high power committees’ have been constituted but the real issue is how the professionalism of educational institutions such as the National Council of Educational Research and Training, the University Grants Commission and universities themselves have been so deeply damaged in the last 10 years,” she wrote.

Manipur Violence

The Rajya Sabha leader also attacked the Prime Minister for not visiting violence-hit Manipur since ethnic clashes broke out in the state in May 2023. She wrote, “It is no wonder that his party has lost both the Lok Sabha seats there, but this does not seem to have had any impact on his most insensitive handling of the crisis that has engulfed Manipur’s variegated society.”

The first session of the 18th Lok Sabha began on June 24, with new members taking their oaths while the Rajya Sabha session started on June 27.