‘Maharashtra Should Have Taken This Stand Years Ago’: MNS Leader Amit Thackeray Reacts To Tamil Nadu’s NEET Abolition Resolution

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) leader Amit Raj Thackeray on Thursday praised the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly’s resolution seeking to abolish the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) for medical admissions, saying Maharashtra should have taken a similar stand years ago.

In a statement, Thackeray said the resolution stood out not only for its policy implications but also for the political unity displayed in the Tamil Nadu Assembly.

“What stood out wasn't just the policy, but the political maturity on display. Opposition parties, including the Left, set aside their political agendas, ideological differences, and egos to stand united with the government,” he said.

“Why? Because every leader understood one simple truth: When it comes to the future of our students, public interest supersedes party politics!” he added.

Thackeray also referred to the walkout by a BJP MLA, saying, “While a lone BJP MLA chose to stage a walkout, the rest of the Assembly demonstrated what genuine cross-party unity for the people looks like.”

He said the legal fate of the resolution was a separate matter, adding, “Whether this resolution holds up with the Governor or the President is a legal matter for later, but the political courage to stand united for the state's youth is what truly matters.”

Maharashtra’s NEET Stand

Turning his focus to Maharashtra, Thackeray said the state should have taken a similar position on NEET much earlier.

“Maharashtra should have taken this stand years ago. Rajsaheb warned us back in 2016 that NEET was a flawed, anti-student exam designed to penalize Maharashtra's rural and vernacular-medium students. But those in power then and now, refused to listen,” he said.

Criticising the state government, Thackeray said, “Today, Maharashtra's politics is crippled by the arrogance of power and manufactured majority. Accountable governance has evaporated.”

Support For Student-Centric Decisions

He cited issues including MPSC delays, TET paper leaks, Talathi recruitment scams, and infrastructure in schools and colleges. “Be it MPSC delays, TET paper leaks, Talathi recruitment scams, or the pathetic infrastructure in our schools and colleges, whenever we raise constructive issues as the opposition, we are dismissed as 'politically motivated,” he said. “This toxic political ego of the ruling dispensation is destroying the lives and futures of millions of young men and women in Maharashtra,” he added.

Thackeray said political parties should remember that their primary role is to serve the public. “Politicians seem to have forgotten that politics exists to serve the people, not the other way around,” he said. He further added that the opposition would support decisions that genuinely benefit students, youth and Marathi interests.

“We are not in the opposition to oppose for the sake of opposing. If this government takes a bold, genuinely beneficial decision for the students, youth, or Marathi, we will be the very first to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with them, just as we have in the past,” he said.

However, he called on the government to change its approach towards the opposition. “For that to happen, the government must shed its arrogance and stop steamrolling the opposition. Do not leave the people with the impression that statecraft in Maharashtra is dead and replaced by sheer authoritarianism,” Thackeray said.

Calling on Maharashtra's ruling parties to emulate Tamil Nadu, he said, “It is time for the ruling parties to take a page out of Tamil Nadu's book and show the guts to unite for the public good.” He concluded, “Because for us: Maharashtra First... Politics Later!”

Published on: Thursday, August 13, 2026, 11:45 AM IST