Rahul Gandhi Protest: Congress staged a massive protest on Tuesday near Prime Minister Narendra Modi's residence in Delhi, demanding resignation of education minister Dharmendra Pradhan. While Rahul Gandhi, upon being detained, accused the government of being authoritative, Pradhan alleged that the leader of the opposition was using the students as a political tool. The Congress has maintained that it will continue to raise the demands in the ongoing Monsoon session of the parliament.
Senior Leaders Detained
Earlier on Tuesday, the Delhi police detained senior Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Mallikarjun Kharge, KC Venugopal, and Charanjit Singh Channi. The police also detained Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav who was there to protest along with the Congress leaders. While Rahul and Akhilesh were taken to the Chhatrasal Stadium, Priyanka Gandhi was taken to a different site. However, the senior leaders were released within three hours of the detention as the party workers continued their protest.
Rahul Gandhi's Message
Rahul Gandhi later released a video message, shot inside the Chhatrasal stadium, for the prime minister and urged him to apologise for the paper leaks and police action on the protesting students. He further stated that the Congress wanted to deliver a direct message to PM Modi as the government was avoiding a discussion on the NEET paper leak.
"As an elder, I would suggest that the Prime Minister apologise to the country's students for what happened yesterday and start reforms in the examination and education system as soon as possible," Rahul Gandhi said. He further demanded the resignation of Home Minister Amit Shah and urged the prime minister to take back all the cases against the protesting students.
Dharmendra Pradhan's Response
While responding to the Congress' protest, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan accused Rahul Gandhi and Congress of using students as their political tools. In a post on X, Pradhan alleged that instead of a discussion on their demands, the Congress leaders preferred political headlines. Apart from this, Union Minister Jitendra Singh, who approached Gandhi during the protest, accused him of not sticking to his demands.
Congress' Strategy
The grand old party asserted that despite the detention of its senior leaders on Tuesday, Congress will continue to raise the issue in the parliament session and will protest on Wednesday. The government has reportedly agreed to have a discussion on the issue in the ongoing monsoon session of the parliament.