Stalin seeks NEET scrap; VCK to join protests

Chennai: DMK president M K Stalin on Friday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to abandon plans for a NEET re-examination and allow states to fill medical seats based on Class XII marks through an emergency ordinance.In a letter to the Prime Minister, Stalin said the cancellation of NEET 2026 following the question paper leak left 22.8 lakh students uncertain about their future, even as a CBI probe was under way into the alleged malpractice involving multiple states.Tracing controversies surrounding national medical entrance examinations since 2015, Stalin alleged there were question paper leaks, impersonations, counselling delays, translation errors and large-scale malpractices by coaching centres.He said NEET evolved into a system favouring wealthy students with access to expensive coaching, while disadvantaging rural, govt school and Tamil-medium students. Hence, NEET for the 2026-27 academic year should be cancelled, Stalin said and requested the Union govt to amend the National Medical Commission Act through an ordinance.Meanwhile, VCK chief Thol Thirumavalavan said his party would participate in statewide protests coordinated by Dravidar Kazhagam on May 16, demanding the complete scrapping of NEET. Referring to the cancellation of the examination, he said lakhs of students across the country were pushed into uncertainty and reiterated that VCK opposed NEET from the beginning, citing the deaths of students such as Ariyalur's Anitha.