Mumbai Sees Massive Youth Rally Over NEET Leak
MUMBAI-A massive crowd of youths gathered at Shivaji Park on July 24 to demand the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the NEET paper leak issue.
Holding the Tricolor, the protesters sang the National Anthem.
Prominent figures, including Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Aaditya Thackeray, Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) President Sharmila Thackeray, social activist and Mahatma Gandhi’s great-grandson Tushar Gandhi, and actor Atul Kulkarni, participated in the event.
During the protest, CJP leader Abhijit Dipke interacted with the gathering over a phone call facilitated by Aaditya Thackeray. Dipke thanked Uddhav Thackeray for supporting the CJP, Ladakh-based climate activist Sonam Wangchuk and the students from the beginning of the agitation.
Dipke said CJP representatives met Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda on July 24 and submitted three key demands, reiterating that the CJP and the protesting students remain firm on their demand for Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation.
Speaking to Dipke, Aaditya Thackeray said, “We have to change the system by securing this resignation. This is a new India, and it will not bow down.”
Addressing the gathering, Uddhav Thackeray said, “This is the second time in four days that we are meeting at this very spot. Day before yesterday I went to Delhi, and now we will meet again on July 26. We are all Indians, and that is our primary identity.”
He added, “Delhi will have to listen to this ‘Jan Ki Baat’ (people’s voice). Students were brutally cane-charged in Delhi. The government may have guns and lathis in their hands, but we hold the Tricolor. We stand before you with the National Anthem — let’s see whether the Tricolor wins or your dictatorship.”
Aaditya Thackeray said Sonam Wangchuk’s hunger strike may have ended, but the agitation continued. He told the gathering that Abhijit Dipke and other students were carrying forward the protest in Delhi and urged people to remain united until Dharmendra Pradhan resigned. (IANS)
