The first day of the Monsoon cum Budget Session on Monday witnessed the ruling party and Opposition members face off over the NEET and NTA row with Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi demanding immediate resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan who in turn said he is on the post “at the mercy of his leader (Prime Minister Narendra Modi)” and that the Government is “collectively answerable”.

While Opposition called the current entrance examination system “rubbish”, Centre asserted there have been no evidence of entrance exam paper leaks in last seven years.

Rahul carried on with his scathing attacks. “It’s obvious to the whole country that there is a very serious problem in our examination system. The Minister has blamed everybody except himself. I don’t even think he understands the fundamentals of what is going on here,” the Congress leader said.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said this Government will create new records in paper leaks. “Students across the country are protesting. Investigation is leading to revelations, arrests are being made. I have only one request, students will not get justice if this Minister continues,” he said.

In response, Pradhan said the results have been made public as per the Supreme Court’s directions. “I don’t want to do politics, but I have a list of how many paper leaks happened when Akhilesh was in charge (as Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister),” he said. Hitting back, Pradhan said he has the support of the people in his constituency and does not need a certification of intelligence from anyone in Parliament.

“Lies will not become truth if you shout. The country’s examination system has been called rubbish. There cannot be a more unfortunate statement by the Leader of the Opposition. I condemn this,” said Pradhan in the thick of storm ever since irregularities in the NEET followed by UGC-NET have been reported. A cornered Pradhan then took a “remote control” jab — a swipe the BJP routinely use to target the Manmohan Singh Government.

“In 2010, three Bills for education reforms had been introduced by their Minister Kapil Sibal. One of them was to prohibit unfair practices. What was their problem? Under whose pressure was that Bill withdrawn. Was it due to the pressure of private medical colleges? And they are asking us questions” he said.

Responding to the Opposition’s allegations, the Minister said the NTA has conducted more than 240 exams and over 5 crore students have appeared in them.

“There is no evidence of the paper leak in the last seven years,” he said, adding that the Centre’s is “hiding nothing”.

As the opposition sought to corner the government on the issue of paper leaks, Speaker Om Birla said it is not right to raise questions about all exams and members should discuss the need of developing a better examination system.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is probing alleged irregularities in the medical entrance exam NEET and has lodged six FIRs. The NEET-UG is conducted by the National Testing Agency for admissions to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH and other related courses in government and private institutions.

The Speaker stressed that there should be constructive discussions on the issue. If questions are raised about all examinations in the country, it have an impact on the Indian education system and perception about it around the world, he noted.

After Birla concluded his remarks, Rahul Gandhi wanted to speak but was disallowed and sooner the entire Opposition members, including from TMC and DMK, walked out of the House.

Congress Deputy Leader in the House Gaurav Gogoi raised slogans demanding the resignation of Pradhan.

Speaking to media later Rahul said the opposition will keep raising the issue to build pressure on the government.

Asked if he was satisfied with the minister’s response in the House, Rahul  said the minister should give an answer. “He spoke about the Supreme Court, he spoke about the prime minister, but perhaps he did not understand and was not able to tell what he was doing about it (NEET).”

The NEET exam issue came up for discussion during the Question Hour in the Lok Sabha with several opposition leaders, including the LoP, saying there was a very serious problem in the country’s examination system.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is scheduled to present the Union Budget for 2024-25 on Tuesday which will be the first Budget of the Modi government since the NDA came back to power for a third straight term.

Sitharaman will be presenting her seventh consecutive Budget, surpassing the record of former Prime Minister Morarji Desai. The session is scheduled to have 16 sittings and is likely to conclude on August 12.

Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Kiren Rijiju said that this session will mainly be devoted to the financial business relating to the Union Budget for 2024-25 which will be presented on July 23.

Late in the evening INDIA bloc leaders led by Congress held a meeting to decide and be united to carry on with their strategy to corner the Modi government on range of issues including the Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand Government’s order to display nameplates at eateries enroute Kanwar Yatra, rising cases of terror attacks in Jammu and compromise of various examination system including the UPSC.