PM Modi Reaches Out To Rahul Gandhi Via Minister Over NEET Stir; AAP Unhappy

Union Minister of State in the PMO, Dr Jitendra Singh along with Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan, went across PM Narendra Modi’s official residence at — 7, Lok Kalyan Marg — on July 21 afternoon to have a chat with Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi and Rajya Sabha MP Mallikarjun Kharge, to end their sit-in protest.  He was apparently instructed to reach out to senior Congress leaders by PM Modi. Inspite of being very vocal about a discussion on NEET-related issues in the Parliament, Dr Singh disclosed that “The Congress Party had not given any notice to date for a formal discussion on this serious matter as per rules.” The minister was sent by PM Modi ‘in view of the dignity of the senior delegation”. A request was apparently made to Rahul Gandhi to end his sit-in, as the site – in the high security zone – was not meant for protests. Rahul Gandhi put forward the demand that if the government agrees to discuss in Parliament all issues related to NEET, he would immediately end his sit-in. Within a few moments, after taking permission from the government’s top leadership, Rahul was assured that his demand has been accepted. When this information was conveyed to Rahul, he said that he would not agree to this alone but also sought assurance for the resignation of the Union HRD Minister, Dharmendra Pradhan. Clearly, government’s move to reach out to the Congress on NEET irked the AAP which had lent a lot of support to Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) dharna at Jantar Mantar. AAP MP Sanjay Singh alleged that PM Modi had got Rahul Gandhi to sit in front of his house only to weaken the thrust of the youth movement of that got a boost with recent protests.