Amid Delhi NEET Protests, Vijay’s TVK Calls for Education to Return to State List

As protests over alleged NEET irregularities gather force in New Delhi, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) has raised the debate beyond the conduct of one examination. The party is demanding the abolition of NEET and a larger shift in authority: bringing education back under the State List, or creating a temporary Special Concurrent List.

Delhi NEET protests widen the political argument

The demonstrations in the national capital have brought together concerns over transparency, accountability and public trust in national entrance examinations. Student groups, Opposition leaders and civil-society organisations argue that repeated controversies have damaged confidence in the system used for medical admissions.

For Tamil Nadu parties, however, the moment has also revived a longer-running dispute over who should control education policy. The argument is no longer limited to whether alleged irregularities can be prevented through better administration; it is increasingly about whether a centralised test should determine access to medical education at all.

TVK’s NEET demand goes beyond scrapping the exam

TVK said it does not simply oppose alleged flaws in how NEET is administered. Its position is that NEET itself should be abolished. The party’s more distinctive demand is for education to be restored to the State List, which it says would allow states to exercise full legislative authority over education and medical admissions.

If that constitutional change cannot happen immediately, TVK has proposed an interim route: a Special Concurrent List arrangement that would devolve education-related powers to states until a permanent solution is reached.

What TVK says this would address

• State authority: States would have a greater role in shaping education and admission policies.
• Medical admissions: TVK wants states to regain meaningful legislative control over admissions.
• Structural reform: The party argues administrative fixes alone cannot settle recurring disputes around national entrance tests.

How TVK and DMK frame the NEET issue

Both TVK and the DMK are calling for NEET to be removed, but their statements reflect different political emphases. Former chief minister and DMK leader M K Stalin said the Delhi agitation had turned Tamil Nadu’s long-held position into a wider national demand, and maintained that complete abolition is the only lasting response to recurring controversies.

TVK’s demand for education under State List also targets its rival

TVK used its statement to draw a contrast with both the Union government and the DMK, its principal political rival in Tamil Nadu. It accused unnamed rivals of engaging in “fraudulent politics” by promising to abolish NEET for electoral support while, TVK argued, failing to acknowledge constitutional limits on what can be delivered.

The party later made its criticism more direct, accusing the DMK of appropriating the work and struggles of others while seeking to politically target TVK. It said continued attacks would invite public scrutiny of what it described as the DMK’s history of political fraud.

Why the State List proposal matters

Education is at the centre of a continuing federal debate because admission rules, public-school systems, language, access and professional education can have sharply different implications across states. TVK’s proposal presents the NEET dispute as a question of institutional power rather than a one-off examination controversy.

That distinction matters politically. A demand to fix an exam focuses on safeguards, administration and accountability. A demand to shift education to the State List seeks a more fundamental redistribution of decision-making between the Union and state governments.

Whether the proposal develops into a broader national campaign will depend on how the Delhi protests evolve and whether other political parties adopt the same federal approach. For now, the common call to abolish NEET masks a sharper disagreement over the route to reform and who should control it.

Key Takeaways

• TVK has called for NEET to be abolished, not merely reformed.
• Education should return to the State List, TVK says, to give states fuller authority over admissions.
• A Special Concurrent List has been proposed as an interim option if constitutional change is delayed.
• DMK also wants NEET scrapped, describing abolition as the only durable answer to recurring controversies.
• Delhi’s protests have broadened the debate from exam conduct to federal control of education.

What happens next

The immediate pressure from protesters is likely to remain focused on accountability and confidence in the examination system. But TVK’s intervention ensures that the conversation in Tamil Nadu will also turn on a bigger question: whether medical admissions should remain tied to a centralised national test, or be shaped more directly by state governments.