AAP leaders Manish Sisodia and Saurabh Bharadwaj joined the Jantar Mantar protest over the NEET-UG paper leak. They demanded the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and dismissed the Centre’s dialogue offer.
Former Delhi Education Minister Manish Sisodia and AAP Delhi unit president Saurabh Bharadwaj on Thursday visited Jantar Mantar to extend support to the protest against Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the NEET-UG paper leak. As Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced fast-track courts for paper leak cases, Sisodia said no one asked for them. He demanded a probe against Dharmendra Pradhan.
AAP Rejects Dialogue, Demands Probe
When asked about the Centre proposing a dialogue with the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP), Sisodia told ANI, “Go ahead and talk; who is stopping you? The Prime Minister also tweeted. You should tweet that Dharmendra Pradhan has resigned; we will heed the students’ demands, and then come and have the discussion. The students are saying that there is corruption in education and the paper mafia is destroying the future of not just NEET, but students appearing for any exam.”
“If the education minister is not involved, he should step aside and let an investigation happen to get a clean chit. If he is involved (in the paper leak), then there should be action against him, and he should be removed from the post,” he added.
Allegations of a Cover-Up
Further, he alleged an attempt to save Sanjeev Kumar, alias Sanjeev Mukhiya, in the 2024 NEET-UG paper leak case after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) did not find any evidence to establish his involvement in the theft of the question paper, despite him being named an accused in the initial FIR by the Bihar Police.
“CJP is anchoring the protest. The Prime Minister announced fast-track courts, but no one demanded them. What will fast-track courts do? Sanjeev Mukhiya is said to be the master mind for NEET scams since 2024. CBI did not file a chargesheet. Sanjeev Mukhiya is being saved; possibly desh ka mukhiya (the Prime Minister) must be in trouble,” the AAP leader said.
Saurabh Bharadwaj put it straight, stating that there was no requirement for a dialogue when the demand is for Pradhan’s resignation. “If they are ready for a dialogue, they should call and talk. They are telling the whole world, which means they are actually not ready. There is no requirement for a dialogue; you should sack Pradhan,” the AAP Delhi chief said.
Government Open to Dialogue
The Union Government has insisted that its doors are open for dialogue regarding the NEET paper leak controversy, while the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) said it had not received any communication from the government yet and remained ready for dialogue at Jantar Mantar or a neutral venue. Union Minister of State Jitendra Singh said that the government has sent four proposals for a dialogue and both him and Union Minister JP Nadda would be present during any dialogue between the two parties. (ANI)
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