New Delhi [India], July 20 (ANI): Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader Kanimozhi on Monday slammed the BJP-led government over police action against protestors during their march to Parliament over their demands concerning NEET-UG paper leak and said “protest is the most democratic form of expressing people’s opinion”.
She said questions being asked by protestors are valid. “Protest is the most democratic form of expressing the people’s opinion, and the questions being raised are valid. Unfortunately, the government does not want to address or answer these questions. Instead, it resorts to violence against the people who are raising them. This is totally unacceptable,” she told reporters.
The Monsoon Session of Parliament got off to a stormy start on Monday, with both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha witnessing repeated adjournments over the alleged NEET-UG 2026 paper leak and embezzlement of donations at the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust in Ayodhya.
Earlier in the day, Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) chief spokesperson Saurav Das said they met Union Health Minister JP Nadda and raised three demands, including the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and compensation of Rs 1 crore to the families of the NEET aspirants, “more than 20 of whom have lost their lives”.
He said activist Sonam Wangchuk, who is in a hospital, should be “released immediately”
Das said that the protest will continue till Dharmendra Pradhan resigns.
“We met JP Nadda twice. During the meeting, we stated our three demands. First, that Sonam Wangchuk be released immediately… Second, we demand that Dharmendra Pradhan must resign; he should either be dismissed from the Cabinet or resign voluntarily. The protest will continue until his resignation is secured. Third, we demand compensation of Rs 1 crore for the families of the NEET aspirants, more than 20 of whom have lost their lives. We approached JP Nadda regarding these demands,” Das told ANI.
Das and CJP leader Ashutosh Ranka met the Union Health Minister. He also made a post about the demands in a post on X . He said they were at Nadda’s residence for about four hours.
“The demands have been conveyed, including immediate resignation/sacking of Dharmendra Pradhan,” he said.
“The Minister assured us he will discuss this at the appropriate level. However, no commitments have been made so far. The peaceful protesters will not rest until the demand is met!” he added.
Nadda said in a post on X that the government held talks with the delegation of protesters.
“This morning, for the first time, a proposal came from the protesters to hold talks with the government, and our discussions have been ongoing since 11:50 AM. The meeting took place in a cordial atmosphere,” he said.
“An initial verbal discussion was held in detail with their delegation, and they submitted a written petition to me around 4 PM. I have requested all the protesters to end their sit-in and assist the administration in restoring normalcy,” he added. (ANI)
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