Kolkata (West Bengal): The Opposition on Wednesday came together in opposing the Centre's move to hold medical and engineering entrance exams in September amid the pandemic. Chief Ministers of several non-BJP ruled states, led by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee insisted that a combined review petition be filed before the Supreme Court at the earliest, requesting that JEE and NEET be deferred.
In a significant move, Congress interim-president Sonia Gandhi ushered in Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee to conduct the virtual meeting, which was attended by Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackerey, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren and four Congress Chief Ministers Amarinder Singh (Punjab), Bhupesh Baghel (Chhattisgarh), Ashok Gehlot (Rajasthan) and V Narayanasamy (Puducherry).
Accusing the Centre of "bulldozing its decisions" over the states in the "name of cooperative federalism", Mamata said, "We have to remain united and go the Supreme Court. This decision of forcefully holding the exams is nothing but putting the hapless students and bright minds of the country at risk amid this Coronavirus pandemic. This is nothing but mental agony for the students and we have to speak up for them."
The Chief Ministers were also united on the issue of non-realisation of pending GST component to the states from the Centre. And they got whole-hearted support from Sonia Gandhi, who had convened the virtual meeting in an attempt to trump up a united opposition rhetoric ahead of Thursday's GST council meeting. Several states have already reported huge loss of revenue due to the pandemic and have been urging the Centre for realisation of GST compensation to combat the situation.
Read: Amarinder Singh directs AG to file review petition in SC on NEET/JEE exams
"The refusal to compensate the states on GST is nothing short of betrayal by the Modi government," said Sonia Gandhi. The union finance secretary's statement during the ministry's standing committee meeting on August 11 that the Centre was not in a position to compensate the states with the mandatory 14 per cent GST compensation was a betrayal of the people by the government, she added.
"We have to decide whether we want to fight the government or remain afraid of it. People have elected both, the BJP to the Centre and us to the states. We have to remain with our people. Though we have entered the phases of unlock, we cannot rush things. Education institutions remain shut as we cannot take risks. We have to remain united and consider legal options if our pleas don't work," said Maharashtra Chief Minister and Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray.
The JEE is scheduled from September 1 to 6 and the NEET exam is to be held on September 13. The Supreme Court had last week rejected a petition by 11 students asking for the exams to be deferred, saying "life cannot be stopped."
The Chief Ministers also castigated the Centre on the new National Education Policy and alleged that the policy was being forced on the states without due consultation and discussion. Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren and Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel were particularly critical about the draft Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). The EIA predicts the effect of a proposed industrial/infrastructural project on the environment.
Read: Refusal of GST compensation to States betrayal on part of Centre: Sonia Gandhi
Mamata Banerjee and Amarinder Singh were of the opinion that the Centre's delay in compensating the states of the GST component and the increased load on the states' exchequers due to the Covid-19 pandemic has pushed them to such a situation that they were finding it difficult to even pay regular salaries to the state government employees.
"We are not beggars. We are merely asking for our due share and the Centre has to pay us," said Banerjee.
In their attempt to rally the Opposition for a united stand against the BJP-ruled Centre, both Mamata and Sonia, however, failed to enlist Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. Kejriwal did not respond to the calls and stiff opposition from the Kerala Congress unit forced Sonia to keep Vijayan at bay. Mamata has already shot two letters to the Prime Minister urging for the exams to be deferred.
