NEET row: Governor is nothing but a postman, says CM Stalin

Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK president M K Stalin yesterday launched a scathing attack on Governor RN Ravi over the anti-NEET Bill, saying the State was not asking for his approval for the Bill but to send it for Presidential assent like a "postman".

The Governor does not have the authority to grant his approval to the Bill, adopted in the Assembly twice during the DMK rule, seeking exemption from the ambit of the National Entrance-cum-Eligibility Test (NEET) for Tamil Nadu, he said.

Addressing a public meeting here organised by the Dravidar Kazhagam (DK), Mr Stalin recalled his government's efforts to do away with NEET, including pressing the issue with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"We are not asking the Governor for approval for the bill. The Governor does not have the authority to do so. What we ask is, send the Bill to the President," he said.

Quoting DK chief K Veeramani, Stalin said the Governor "should do the job of a postman", by referring the Bill to the President and that his refusal to "to do even the postal department's job doesn't befit the Governor's post". He questioned how a "nominated governor" can return a Bill or "prevent it" and wondered if he was bigger than people.

"Do you think you are running a massive empire," he asked.

He wondered whether Governors "poked their nose" in BJP-ruled states and asked if the states would remain quiet if they did.

He further alleged that NEET was an attempt to confine medical education to a few and that it was a "modern knowledge untouchability", against which the DMK will fight tooth and nail.