New Delhi: Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Thursday took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the government's delayed response to the alleged NEET paper leak, using verses by renowned Punjabi and Urdu poet Munir Niazi to criticise the timing of the Centre's announcement of fast-track courts, according to The Indian Express.
Tharoor wrote an Urdu couplet (sher) on X: “I am always late in doing everything — whether it’s saying something important or keeping a promise.”
Tharoor's post on X came after the Prime Minister announced speedy trials for cases related to the examination scandal. The poem referenced by the Congress leader, Hamesha Der Kar Deta Hoon Main, is among the best-known works of Munir Niazi and has frequently been invoked in political discourse over the years.
The criticism comes amid sustained protests at Delhi's Jantar Mantar, where demonstrators have been demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and greater accountability in the examination system over the alleged paper leak.
The agitation intensified after students marching towards Parliament on July 20 clashed with police, triggering a wider political confrontation. Opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, Uddhav Thackeray, Pawan Khera, Atishi and Arvind Kejriwal, have backed the protest.
The Opposition has also refused to participate in parliamentary discussions until Pradhan steps down. Meanwhile, activist Sonam Wangchuk has continued his indefinite hunger strike, which entered its 25th day on Thursday, pressing the same demand.