NEET 2020: Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik, Governor Ganeshi Lal congratulate AIR 1 Soyeb Aftab, wish him bright future

NEET Result 2020: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Sunday called up NEET All India Rank (AIR) 1 holder Soyeb Aftab and congratulated him on his success. Patnaik also wished Soyeb a bright future.

Meanwhile, Soyeb Aftab who is a resident of Odisha was elated on receiving a call from the chief minister and thanked him. He is the first student from Odisha to have topped the NEET.

Soyeb of Rourkela topped the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), results of which were declared on Friday. He scored 720 out of 720 and credited his parents for the success, saying he never expected to bag the first rank in the medical entrance exam.

The Odisha CM also congratulated all the students from the state who succeeded in the examination and wished them a bright future.

Governor Ganeshi Lal also joined Patnaik in congratulating Soyeb for his NEET success. Odisha Governor's official Twitter handle read, ''Hon’ble Governor congratulates SoyebAftab of Odisha for creating history by scoring 720 and topping the merit list. Hon’ble Governor wishes Soyeb many more laurels in future.” 

Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who is from Odisha, also congratulated Aftab on his success and hoped he will bring laurels to the state in the future.

Soyeb's father Sheik Mohammad Abbas is a small business in Odisha. Speaking to PTI, Soyeb said his father extended all the financial support but it was his mother who spent her maximum time supporting him on his studies.

Aftab and Delhi's Akansha Singh scored 720 out of 720 marks but the Odisha boy was ranked first and Singh second as per the National Testing Agency's tie-breaking policy, officials said.

The tie-breaking policy takes into account factors such as age, subject-wise marks and number of incorrect answers, they said.

A total of 7,71,500 candidates have qualified the exam for which over 13.66 lakh candidates had appeared.