INDIA vs NDA over NEET in Lok Sabha; Congress MP claims Rahul Gandhi's mic switched off

The Congress-led INDIA bloc and the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance came at loggerheads with each other in the Parliament on Friday, over the former's insistence on holding a debate on the raging NEET row after suspending all other legislative businesses. Amid ruckus by the Opposition over their demand, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla adjourned the House till Monday.

Congress MP Deepender Hooda, meanwhile, claimed the ruckus erupted after Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi's mic was switched off.

"The future of the youth has been spoiled due to the continuous paper leaks in the country. The maximum number of paper leak cases have been seen in Haryana. The paper was leaked in the NEET exam and the union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan is running away from responsibility. We had brought up a discussion on this and when it was raised in the House, the mike was switched off. If the mike of the Leader of the Opposition is switched off, then there will be anger among other Opposition MPs and the same happened in the House... We demand that this issue be discussed," he said.

On Friday morning, Congress moved adjournment motions in both Houses, seeking the suspension of other businesses. They wanted an immediate discussion on the NEET issues. However, Speaker Om Birla refused to admit it, saying the House was scheduled to discuss the Motion of Thanks on President Draupadi Murmu's address to the Parliament, prompting an uproar.

Birla, whose election had become the first bone of contention in the 18th Lok Sabha session, later adjourned the House.

After the adjournment, parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju said the Congress didn't want the House to function.

"On behalf of the government, we have made it clear that we will give detailed information on whatever issue is raised. We assure the members once again that the government is always ready for discussion. But by halting the proceedings of the House, the tendency adopted by the Congress party - of not letting the House function - is not right...I condemn this. I appeal that those should not happen again," he said.

The Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, earlier demanded a discussion on NEET in Parliament, adding that the discussion must happen "respectfully."

"Yesterday, all the leaders of the opposition parties had a meeting and it was unanimous that today, we want a discussion on the NEET issue. There should be a discussion on NEET here in the House. I request the Prime Minister that this is an issue of the youth and it should be discussed properly and it should be a respectful discussion. We will do it respectfully. You should also join the discussion, you should also participate because this is a matter for the youth. A message should go from the Parliament that the Indian government and the Opposition are talking about the students together," Rahul Gandhi told ANI before entering the Parliament.

The Central Bureau of Investigation is probing the alleged paper leaks in NEET-UG and UGC-NET exams.

With inputs from agencies