Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and several other opposition leaders were detained by Delhi Police after staging a more than two-hour protest outside Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s official residence.
The demonstration was held to protest police action against students and supporters of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), who had marched to Parliament demanding accountability over the NEET paper leak controversy. Rahul Gandhi accused the Centre of using force against students and called for the resignations of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
According to the Congress, party leaders were taken into custody after refusing to end the sit-in. During the protest, Rahul Gandhi urged “every patriotic Indian” to join the demonstration, saying students deserved justice.
The Centre said it had agreed to Rahul Gandhi’s initial demand for a parliamentary discussion on the NEET issue. Union Minister Jitendra Singh, who was sent to speak with the protesters, alleged Gandhi later added a demand for the education minister’s resignation and accused him of changing his position after talks had begun.
The protest followed visits by Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi to a Delhi hospital, where they met people injured during police action at Monday’s demonstrations.
