As BJP faces NEET row heat, allies TDP, JD(U) silent

As protests demanding the scrapping of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) rage on, the BJP’s key NDA allies Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the Janata Dal (United) have remained silent.

In 2023 and 2024, five students from Andhra Pradesh topped the medical entrance exam, securing the first rank with the highest percentiles among their cohorts. More than 60,000 students reportedly wrote NEET this year from the state.

The TDP, the main party in Andhra Pradesh, has not yet issued a statement either in support of the protests or against the National Testing Agency (NTA) that conducts the examination. The TDP has 16 MPs in the Lok Sabha, including two who are Union Ministers.

The Indian Express reached out to senior TDP leaders for comment. “The government has no other choice but to scrap the exam conducted this year,” one of them said on the condition of anonymity. The others claimed they were unaware of the protests. “We have not yet considered this at the party level,” said a senior TDP functionary.

Members of the TDP’s youth wing also declined to comment. “We have not yet formulated a response,” said a youth wing member.

The Janata Dal (United), which heads the government in Bihar where the current scandal has broken out, has 12 MPs in the 18th Lok Sabha. Despite several students from Bihar appearing in the exams each year and many securing top ranks, the party too has maintained studied silence.

While it has targeted Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav for his personal secretary’s role in booking a guesthouse for a key accused in the case, it has shied away from commenting on the examination process and the alleged paper leak saying the “matter is sub judice”.

Most JD(U) leaders The Indian Express spoke