New Delhi, August 24: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lawmaker Subramanian Swamy, who has been advocating postponement of NEET and JEE 2020, on Monday said conducting the exams will be "a giant mistake like Nasbandi in 1976". The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) and Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) are to be conducted in September. However, a large section of students and leaders want the Centre to postpone NEET and JEE 2020. NEET 2020: NTA to Release Exam Admit Cards Shortly on nta.ac.in Amid Demands For Postponement, Students Allotted Test Centres.

Swamy tweeted: "If our Modi Government goes through imposing the NEET/JEE exam now it will be the giant mistake like Nasbandi in 1976 that caused the undoing of Indira government in 1977. Indian voters may suffer silently but have long memories (sic)." Indira Gandhi's term as Prime Minister was marred by the scandalous sterilisation programme. Earlier, Swamy wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to postpone the NEET and JEE 2020. NEET 2020 to be Held 'In Single Shift, At Same Time On Same Day', Overseas Exam Centres Not Possible, NTA Tells Supreme Court.

Subramanian Swamy's Tweet:

In his "urgent letter" to Modi, Swamy said: "Holding the exams, in my opinion, may lead to a large number of suicides by youths around the country." He cited an example of Mumbai where, he claimed, "there is no public transport and people have to come from other areas, often 20 to 30 km away". This is because of the restrictions enforced at many places due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he argued.

However, amid opposition from different quarters, the National Testing Agency (NTA) said on Friday that the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) will be held as scheduled on September 13, while the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) will be held from September 1 to 6.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 24, 2020 11:51 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).