Rahul Gandhi protests at PM residence over CJP crackdown, MoS PMO arrives for talks

The protest accused the Centre of suppressing students, raising concerns over the alleged NEET paper leak and refusing to discuss the issue in Parliament.Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi leads the sit-in protest of Congress leaders outside PM's residence.Several Congress MPs, senior party leaders and chief ministers from Congress-ruled states staged a sit-in protest outside Prime Minister Narendra Modi's official residence at 7 Lok Kalyan Marg in New Delhi on Tuesday, demanding the resignation of the PM and Union Home Minister Amit Shah over the alleged police crackdown on students during the Cockroach Janta Party's (CJP) "Chalo Sansad" march a day earlier.The Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), Dr Jitendra Singh, reached out to the Leader of the Opposition and had a word with him. It is still to be known as to what exactly they said to each other. Visuals of Singh reasoning with Rahul Gandhi appeared to show that Minister Singh was out to understand their viewpoint about the whole agitation and way to calm it.Led by Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, the protest accused the Centre of suppressing students raising concerns over the alleged NEET paper leak and refusing to discuss the issue in Parliament.The demonstration saw the participation of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, KC Venugopal, Pawan Khera, Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, Deepender Hooda, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar and several other MPs and leaders. Earlier, Congress leaders marched towards the Prime Minister's residence, alleging that police had subjected young students to "brutalities" during the CJP-led march to Parliament on Monday.Protesters assembled near Lok Kalyan Marg amid heavy deployment of Delhi Police personnel, who maintained a tight security cordon around the Prime Minister's residence. Visuals from the protest showed Rahul Gandhi standing at the centre of a large gathering of Congress leaders and workers seated on the road outside the Prime Minister's residence.Several leaders raised slogans and held up their hands while addressing the gathering, as security personnel formed multiple layers of barricades around the protest site.Ahead of the demonstration, the Congress shared a video on X showing Rahul Gandhi handing out zip ties to party leaders, who then secured them around their wrists, seemingly to make individual detentions by police more difficult.Meanwhile, Delhi Police placed barricades on roads leading to the Prime Minister's residence to stop additional protesters from joining the sit-in.Senior leaders, including Mallikarjun Kharge and Priyanka Gandhi, remained seated with other MPs during the sit-in, while television crews and photographers documented the demonstration.Videos from the spot captured a charged yet peaceful atmosphere, with Congress leaders interacting with protesters as police personnel remained stationed around the venue to prevent any attempt to move towards the Prime Minister's residence.In a post on X, Rahul Gandhi said, "We have marched to PM Modi's house to demand answers from him for the brutalities against young students yesterday. The Government doesn't want to take any accountability or does it want to have a debate on it in Parliament."He further wrote, "PM and HM must resign for destroying the future of India’s youth".Several Congress leaders were detained during the sit-in protest as security personnel deployed to control the situation started action.On being detained by police, Congress MP K Suresh said, "Brutally, they are detaining us. We are protesting in front of the Prime Minister's residence because our students were brutally attacked yesterday by the Delhi police"."This is BJP's terrorism. They don't listen to the students," Chairperson of Punjab Congress Campaign Committee, Charanjit Singh Channi, slammed the action.Congress MP Imraan Masood alleged that police were manhandling party leaders and claimed students had been assaulted during the previous day's protest.He said the Opposition was being pushed around and argued that the demonstration was necessary because the government was unwilling to hear them either on the streets or in Parliament.CJP'S 'CHALO SANSAD' PROTEST MARCHThe protest came a day after the CJP's "Chalo Sansad" march witnessed clashes with Delhi Police as demonstrators attempted to march towards Parliament over alleged irregularities in the NEET examination and broader concerns surrounding repeated examination paper leaks.The Opposition has accused the Centre of using force against students instead of addressing their demands, while also alleging that the government has avoided a discussion on the issue in Parliament.Before leading the protest to the Prime Minister's residence, Rahul Gandhi, accompanied by Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and several senior Congress leaders, visited Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in New Delhi to meet students who were injured during the alleged police action on Monday's protest march.On Monday, Rahul Gandhi sharply criticised Prime Minister Modi over the police action, describing him as "the most anti-youth Prime Minister in India's history."He alleged that 152 leaked examination papers have affected 7.5 crore students and claimed that those responsible for the leaks had not been punished."Prime Minister Modi is so anti-youth that he cannot even seek the resignation of a failed Education Minister, Dharmendra Pradhan," Gandhi had said in a video message.Referring to the alleged police action against students, Gandhi had also said, "Those responsible for paper leaks are free, while students raising genuine issues are dragged away and beaten".Earlier on Tuesday, Gandhi reiterated that the police action was "completely un-Indian" and questioned the Prime Minister's silence over the incident.He also claimed that when Opposition MPs sought a discussion on the matter in Parliament, they were told that permission from the government would be required before such a debate could take place.CONGRESS DEMANDS PRADHAN'S RESIGNATIONThe Congress has consistently demanded the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over alleged examination irregularities and paper leaks, while also holding PM Modi and Amit Shah politically accountable for the police action against protesters.The latest sit-in outside the PM's residence marks an escalation of the Opposition's campaign over examination reforms and alleged paper leaks, with the Congress indicating it will continue to press for accountability both inside and outside Parliament in the days ahead.- EndsPublished On: Jul 21, 2026 15:58 IST