High drama unfolded outside Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s residence Tuesday after Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and several Opposition MPs were forcibly removed by Delhi Police after talks with the government failed to break the deadlock over the party’s protest over “brutalities against students”.
The detention came after hours of tense negotiations. Union Minister Jitendra Singh and Home Secretary Govind Mohan reached the protest site to hold talks with Rahul Gandhi and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.
The government team hoped to end the standoff peacefully. But the discussions collapsed without any agreement.
Speaking after the meeting, Jitendra Singh accused Rahul Gandhi of shifting his position. He said the government had already agreed to hold a Parliament discussion on NEET and the student protests.
According to Singh, Rahul had promised to withdraw the dharna once this demand was met. Instead, Singh claimed, Rahul introduced a fresh demand: the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. Singh called this an unfortunate reversal from a senior leader.
Congress offered a different version of events. Party sources said Rahul Gandhi had consistently pushed two demands throughout the talks.
The first was Pradhan’s resignation over repeated examination paper leaks. The second was a discussion in both Houses of Parliament on police action against students, with Home Minister Amit Shah present for the debate.
Rahul Gandhi had appealed to citizens before the protest began. In a post on X, he said an attack on students was an attack on every Indian family, and urged people to join the dharna outside the PM’s residence.
Congress communications chief Pawan Khera echoed that resolve, declaring the party would not leave the site until the Prime Minister responded directly.
The protest movement showed no signs of slowing elsewhere in the capital. A day after marching to Parliament, hundreds of students and supporters returned to Jantar Mantar on Tuesday.
They said police action against them had only hardened their determination to continue the agitation.
The Aam Aadmi Party used the moment to target both the Congress and the BJP. AAP called the Congress dharna a “jugalbandi” with the Modi government and accused Rahul Gandhi of diluting the ongoing Cockroach Janta Party protest.
Senior AAP leader Atishi asked how Rahul was permitted to stage a sit-in outside the PM’s residence, while the government had ignored CJP and activist Sonam Wangchuk’s protest for over a month.
AAP MP Sanjay Singh made a similar allegation, suggesting the Congress protest was being used to weaken the CJP agitation.
In a separate development, the Delhi High Court granted relief to Sonam Wangchuk on Tuesday. The court allowed him to shift to Medanta Hospital, a private facility of his choice.
The order came on an appeal filed by his wife, Gitanjali Angmo, who had challenged a single judge’s earlier refusal to move him from Safdarjung Hospital.
Despite the detentions, Congress signaled it would not back down. Party sources said the agitation would continue until the government agrees to both a Parliament discussion on the education crisis and Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation.
Curated news reports, in-depth analysis, and special features by India’s Opinion editorial team.
