TNCC President Manickam Tagore takes a look at PM Modi and DMK

Tamil Nadu Congress Committee President Manickam Tagore during a protest against alleged NEET paper leak, expressing solidarity with students, at T. Nagar, Chennai. | Photo credit: Johan Sathyadas J

The Tamil Nadu Congress Committee organized a public meeting at T. Nagar in Chennai to protest the police action against young students and protesters in New Delhi demanding, among other things, the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan and rallied its allies in Tamil Nadu.

Speaking against the DMK in the meeting, TNCC president Manickam Tagore said that the CPI (M) was the only party that met the families of NEET aspirants who took their lives due to mismanagement in the conduct of the exam.

“Around 1,74,000 aspirants take the exam from Tamil Nadu and 74,000 students qualify. Out of 74,000 students, only 13,000 students can get admission. This year 21 students took their lives and four students in Tamil Nadu committed suicide. The only party that met the families before we did the exam is now the CPI. Students are afraid for their future when their friends graduate degrees, they also spend millions on coaching courses and drive them to commit suicide,” he said.

Mr. Tagore said that Mr. Pradhan should have resigned himself and taken moral responsibility for the NEET fiasco. However, RSS and BJP have no morals. They never take any responsibility. Whenever people objected to them, they went back. They may look fierce, but if you raise your voice, they will fold,” he said, adding that they were forced to return to the Farm Bills, the Land Acquisition Act and the demand for the resignation of the Manipur Chief Minister.

He added that Lok Sabha Opposition Leader Rahul Gandhi had been raising the issue of paper leaks for many years. “Prime Minister Modi is unable to understand the pain of students because he himself is uneducated. We protested in Parliament along with CPI (M), VCK and others. The other two parties – DMK and AIADMK – remained silent in Parliament,” he said. CPI(M) MP Su. Venkatesan said that in the last 12 years there have been major protests – against CAA, NRC, SIR, repeal of 370, farm bills and they have lasted for many months. “But our students achieved victory in a few days. It’s not just the resignation of one minister but a blow to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ego. They made him upload a selfie video at midnight,” he said. MDMK chief Vaiko said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s time in office will be numbered if the BJP continues to impose Hindutva and deny rights to states and praised the youth for achieving this.

Education Minister Rajmohan, Social Justice Minister Vanni Arasu, Tourism Minister S. Rajesh Kumar and others participated.

Published – 26 Jul 2026 05:30 IST