The Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government’s firm stand on conducting JEE Main and NEET UG in September this year could dent its image in the minds of India’s youth who have threatened to ‘not vote’ for the party in upcoming elections if the high stakes engineering & medical entrance exams are not postponed.
Outraged by the government’s reluctance on postponing the exams, Twitter user Anupam Negi said “ Just wait for our time. I am not going to vote BJP ever in my life and most of these 2 million.”
The outrage from students comes after several government officials, including Higher Education Secretary Amit Khare and National Testing Agency Chairman Vineet Joshi argued that postponing exams any further would jeopardise the future of students and lead to the loss of a complete academic year.
But students have argued that since it is an extraordinary situation, the government should postpone it until Diwali. With upcoming elections in Bihar, Twitter user Arauv claims that students will not vote for the BJP in the state.
Another user by the name of Pradyumn said that students would say ‘bye bye’ to the BJP in Bihar elections if their demands are not met. Out of around 25 lakh aspirants in JEE Main and NEET, around 1.40 lakh are from Bihar.
Several users claim that this number will gain enormous proportions if family members of distraught JEE and NEET candidates vote against the BJP as well. One user, by the name of Shivam Thakur, said that he will urge all his friends and relatives in Bihar to not vote for the BJP in 2020.
Nitish Facing Flak Too
But it’s not just the Bharatiya Janata Party that is facing flak from students. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, too, has been criticised by students, who say that the JD(U) Chief has been found napping on the issue.
A Warning From BJP’s Own
Among the many to warn the BJP is one of its own Members of Parliament in Rajya Sabha, Subramanian Swamy, who says that going ahead with exams would be a ‘giant mistake’ on part of the Modi government.
Comparing the decision of not cancelling exams to the Emergency years, that led to the defeat of Indira Gandhi in 1977, Swamy said, ‘Indian voters may suffer silently, but have long memories.’
Apart from tweeting vociferously against JEE Main and NEET in September, Swamy has also written to Prime Minister Modi, saying that holding exams in September “may lead to a large number of suicides in the country.”
He has also asked for exams to be postponed till Diwali.
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