Gandhinagar, July 23 (IANS) Gujarat Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Jagdish Vishwakarma on Thursday accused Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and the party of adopting what he described as a “dangerous trend” of ‘misleading’ young people over the issue of examination paper leaks, alleging that the Opposition was seeking political advantage instead of engaging in meaningful parliamentary debate.
Addressing a press conference at the BJP state headquarters in Gandhinagar, in the presence of Agriculture Minister Jitu Vaghani, Vishwakarma said the Opposition was attempting to provoke students rather than participate in discussions on the issue in Parliament.
“A dangerous trend of misleading the youth of the country is being adopted by Rahul Gandhi and the Congress. Their objective is not to secure justice for students but to mislead them for political gain. Instead of making a serious issue like paper leaks a political matter, there should be meaningful discussion in Parliament, but the Opposition is trying to provoke the youth instead,” he said.
Vishwakarma said paper leaks were a national concern rather than an issue confined to any one state, political party or government.
He said all stakeholders should work together in the national interest to address the problem instead of giving it a political colour.
“For the BJP-led Central Government, ensuring the future of students, securing strict punishment for the guilty and preventing the recurrence of such incidents are the three highest priorities,” he said.
Referring to the NEET examination controversy, Vishwakarma said the Central Government had acted promptly by registering complaints through the Ministry of Education, handing over the investigation to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), constituting a Special Investigation Team (SIT) and arresting the accused.
“The government had also sought daily court hearings to ensure early punishment for those responsible,” he added.
He said the re-examination was conducted in the interest of students, completed within the stipulated timeframe and followed by the timely declaration of results.
According to him, a large number of candidates, including a significant proportion of female students, qualified in the examination.
“A decision had been taken to introduce a computer-based examination system for NEET to make the examination process more transparent and secure,” he emphasised.
Vishwakarma also referred to an announcement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday regarding the establishment of fast-track courts for paper leak cases.
“The Prime Minister has announced that ‘Fast Track Courts’ will be established so that those guilty in paper leak cases receive the strictest possible punishment at the earliest and such cases are disposed of swiftly. This is an important decision in the series of measures being taken to safeguard students’ interests. No one who tampers with the future of the youth will be spared under any circumstances,” he said.
Criticising the Congress over its protests, Vishwakarma alleged that Rahul Gandhi and the party had “crossed the limits of democracy and the Constitution” by attempting to march towards the Prime Minister’s residence, calling the move “highly condemnable”.
“A notice had already been submitted under Rule 193 for a discussion on the NEET issue in Parliament, but the Opposition had chosen to remain away from debate while attempting to spread confusion across the country,” he alleged.
Vishwakarma further claimed that examination irregularities and paper leak incidents had also occurred during Congress governments and in states governed by the Congress or its alliance partners.
He cited Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Punjab, Kerala and Karnataka as examples where such cases had surfaced.
Appealing to young people, he said: “The government had attached the highest importance to youth participation in building a developed India and had implemented several welfare schemes for the poor, youth, women and farmers.”
He expressed confidence that young people would stay away from what he termed “misleading politics and the politics of anarchy” and continue to contribute to nation-building.
–IANS
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