Congress Legislature Party leader Vijay Wadettiwar on Thursday, 23 July mounted a sharp attack on the Maharashtra government over its handling of student protests against NEET paper leaks, condemning police lathi charges on peaceful demonstrators and allegations that officers threatened to plant narcotics on protesters. Speaking to reporters in Nagpur, Wadettiwar demanded that the government immediately address students' legitimate grievances rather than suppress them through force.

Allegations Against Police

Wadettiwar invoked the Maharashtra Police's own motto — 'Sadrashanay Khalanigrahanay' (To protect the good and punish the evil) — to underline what he called a grave contradiction. He alleged that police officers had threatened to plant 50 grams of drugs on student protesters, demanding accountability for where such narcotics would have come from. 'It seems the time has come to protect citizens from the police itself,' he said.

He argued that deploying force against peaceful student agitations constitutes a direct assault on democratic values, and called on both the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led central government and the Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis-led state administration to open dialogue rather than escalate confrontation.

NEET Paper Leaks and Examination Failures

Wadettiwar highlighted that competitive examination paper leaks have recurred over the past decade, jeopardising the futures of lakhs of students. He held the government primarily responsible for maintaining the credibility of examination systems and urged the ruling administration to acknowledge its failures and implement structural reforms, instead of deflecting blame onto the Opposition.

This comes amid a nationwide controversy over the NEET-UG 2024 paper leak, which has triggered protests across multiple states and drawn scrutiny over the integrity of India's largest medical entrance examination.

Congress Protest March in Mumbai

A day earlier, on Wednesday, Maharashtra Congress leaders organised a major protest march from Gandhi Bhavan towards the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) office in South Mumbai, condemning both the lathi charge on student protesters and what the party described as unacceptable treatment of Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi, General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi, and other Congress Members of Parliament.

The march, led by Congress State President Harshwardhan Sapkal, included Legislature Party Leader Vijay Wadettiwar, Congress Working Committee member and former minister Naseem Khan, MLA Bhai Jagtap, former MP Bhalchandra Mungekar, former MP Husain Dalwai, and senior social activist Tushar Gandhi, among others. Police intercepted the procession near Regal Cinema and detained Congress leaders and office-bearers before they could reach their destination.

Protesters raised slogans including 'Modi Hatav, Desh Bachav' (Remove Modi, Save the Country), reflecting the opposition's framing of the issue as a broader governance failure.

Sapkal on Student Futures and Governance

Congress State President Sapkal alleged that the Modi government's handling of the NEET paper leak and ongoing examination irregularities has imperilled the futures of lakhs of students nationwide. He also claimed that students who took to the streets in protest faced lathi charges, water cannons, and tear gas. He further argued that democratic and constitutional values had been sidelined over the past 12 years, and that earlier promises of creating two crore jobs annually had gone unfulfilled.

Farm Loan Waiver Row

Wadettiwar also turned his fire on the Maharashtra government over farm loan waivers, alleging that the administration had inflated relief figures and that chaotic waiver lists revealed how farmers were being shortchanged. He demanded immediate transparency from the state on the matter, signalling that Congress intends to press both the NEET controversy and agrarian distress as twin accountability issues ahead of upcoming political contests.

With statewide demonstrations continuing and parents joining protests down to the taluka level, the pressure on the Maharashtra government to respond substantively is likely to intensify in the days ahead.