NEET-JEE row: Subramanian Swamy fires 'For students' vs 'against Modi' litmus test for CMs

Senior BJP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Dr Subramanian Swamy on Sunday said that if the Chief Ministers do not invoke the Disaster Management Act (DMA) for the students appearing for the NEE-JEE exams then they are "not for students" but for "embarrassing" PM Modi. Further slamming them, the Rajya Sabha MP said they then "want chaos, not solutions"

'They are not for students but for...'

Replying to one Twitter user who asked Dr Swamy about his conversation with two CMs on the Disaster Management Act, the BJP leader responded by saying, "They will show their hand on Monday."

In another tweet, he asked, "Why not a minimum IQ test, which I had earlier proposed to BJP in 2014?"

On Saturday, he had said if Chief Ministers seeking postponement of JEE and NEET exams had "not intervened", he would have tried to meet PM Modi and take "one last chance", adding that he cannot do so now. He said that it is now the Chief Ministers and the Supreme Court's responsibility to take it to its "logical end". Swamy also said that 'Monday is crucial', seeing as the JEE exam is set to begin a day after.

'If CMs had not intervened'

Taking to Twitter, the Rajya Sabha MP advised the CMs by saying, "What they can do is to use the Disaster Management Act and say that the State cannot jeopardise the Coronavirus situation by having a mass exodus to examination centres of students and parents. It is risk-prone. According to estimates, 8% of them can get infected by the virus."

More than 20 lakh students have registered for the exams

While the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) is scheduled to be held on September 13, engineering entrance exam, JEE-Main, is planned from September 1 to 6. Many opposition parties have opposed the Centre's move to go ahead with these exams amid the COVID-19 pandemic questioning the safety of students.

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While a total of 8.58 lakh candidates have registered for the JEE-Mains, 15.97 lakh students have registered for the NEET. Increasing the number of examination centres, alternative seating plan, fewer candidates per room and staggered entry and exit are among the steps the National Testing Agency will take for safely conducting the NEET and JEE exams next month.

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(With PTI inputs)