NEET face-off: DMK to boycott TN Guv's At Home Reception

Chennai: In the NEET face-off between the ruling DMK in Tamil Nadu and the Raj Bhavan, the former will not attend an 'At Home Reception' organised by the Governor RN Ravi on Thursday as participating in the event would amount to hurting the overall sentiments of the people, state Industries Minister Thangam Thennarasu said on Thursday.

Thennarasu and Health Minister Ma Subramanian met the Governor at the Raj Bhavan over the status of the second Assembly bill seeking exemption for Tamil Nadu from the ambit of the National Entrance-cum-Eligibility Test (NEET) on the "directions of Chief Minister" M K Stalin. The House had adopted the second bill after the Governor returned the earlier one, saying it was against the interests of the rural students.

While the ruling DMK-piloted first bill against NEET was adopted in September last, the House passed the second resolution in February this year, soon after the Governor returned the earlier one. On Thursday, Thennarasu told reporters that while the Governor had to give his approval to the bill, he informed them that it was still under his consideration.

"The Assembly functions according to democratic ethos. And a unanimous resolution for the second time was adopted and its still stuck at the Raj Bhavan. So in this situation, it would be not proper for us to participate in the feast," he said about the At Home Reception, organised coinciding with the Tamil New Year day today. "We have conveyed our decision," to Ravi, he said.

Participation in the event by the chief minister and other people's representatives would amount to "belittling the dignity of the century-old Assembly and hurting the overall sentiments of the people of Tamil Nadu," the Minister said. "So, we are not in a position to participate. We have told the governor what we have told you (the reporters). The governor listened to us but gave no guarantee on sending the bill (for Presidential assent) nor gave a timeframe about it. So, we are not in a position to attend it." The Governor functions under the Constitution and he had earlier told Stalin during a meeting he would refer the bill for Presidential assent, Thennarasu said, adding "he has to send" the second bill.

The Governor and the chief minister were also slated to attend the unveiling of a statue of national poet, Mahakavi Subramania Bharathiar on the occasion, later in the day. Thennarasu pointed out that the demand for NEET exemption has also been taken up with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah by Stalin,

but to no avail.