3 min readUpdated: Jul 22, 2026 03:36 PM IST
Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday said the Centre should have engaged with NEET protesters much earlier instead of responding with force, a day after he visited Jantar Mantar to meet students protesting the alleged NEET paper leak.
Before leaving Delhi, Uddhav Thackeray spoke to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over the phone. Sena (UBT) sources said the two discussed the student agitation at Jantar Mantar, Gandhi’s detention during the Opposition protest outside Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s residence on Tuesday, and the alleged NEET paper leak. Opposition parties are likely to coordinate strategy on both issues during the Monsoon Session of Parliament, the sources said.
Addressing a press conference, Thackeray said his party had supported the agitation from the start.
“I had not gone there just to extend support yesterday. We have been with this movement from the first day. Sonam Wangchuk had met me earlier. Abhijeet Dipke and the students had also approached us before. I went yesterday to meet them,” he said.
He said the government’s responsibility in a democracy was to engage with protesters, not suppress them.
“If people are on the streets, the government should talk to them, understand what they are saying and clear their doubts. Had the government spoken to Sonam Wangchuk and Abhijeet Dipke when they first approached it, this issue would have been resolved by now,” he said.
“If you only impose your will and refuse to listen to the people, then this is not democracy. People are now saying even the British were better. Those in power today have become arrogant, but it will not take the people long to bring that arrogance down,” he said, drawing parallels with past governments, and noting Indira Gandhi had met protesters during an agitation in Ladakh, while the UPA government deputed then Union minister Vilasrao Deshmukh to hold talks with Anna Hazare during the anti-corruption movement.
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On the police action against protesters in Delhi, Thackeray alleged women and children had been manhandled. “I saw young girls and women being treated in a manner that has no place in our culture. Students are fighting for their future. If you crush them today, they will not remain silent tomorrow,” he said.
He also criticised Maharashtra’s crackdown in Mumbai, claiming over 300 people were detained and later served digital notices. “If raising your voice against injustice invites detention and legal notices, then this cannot be called a democracy,” he said, appealing for wider support for the agitation. “This is not about you or me anymore. Everyone should stand with the country’s youth. They are fighting for the future of the nation,” he said.