CJP back at Jantar Mantar, cops break Congress protest at PM house

NEW DELHI: Stepping up their protest over NEET paper leak, senior Congress functionaries, including party chief Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi staged a surprise sit-in outside PM Modi's residence, as govt and BJP accused Rahul of precipitating confrontation with his protest in a high-security zone which showed he is a "symbol of anarchy".

With Rahul insisting on education minister Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation after govt had agreed to a debate in Parliament on the paper leak and giving a call to "every patriotic Indian" to join the protest, police forcibly removed the Congress functionaries, including Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and Samajwadi Party's Akhilesh Yadav, who had joined the sit-in.



Police said, to evade suspicion from police and intelligence agencies, the organisers allegedly used an elderly leader's birthday as cover, inviting politicians, supporters and media for a "cake-cutting ceremony" at an adjacent govt bungalow. They then went to the residence's restricted exit gate, according to police.

Rahul Gandhi was taken to Chhatrasal stadium and Priyanka Gandhi to Mandir Marg police station. Later, they were released along with the others, police said.

"Rahul's behaviour demonstrates that he does not take the dignity of the leader of opposition's office seriously. We have consistently maintained that he is emerging as a symbol of anarchy," BJP chief Nitin Nabin said.

Videos of Rahul resisting detention lying on the ground went viral. "Democracy in India is happening right now," he said, as he was pulled away. "An attack on students is an attack on every Indian family. PM Modi believes he can get away without answers, without consequences. He cannot. Not this time," he said.

Govt had sent Union minister Jitendra Singh and home secretary Govind Mohan to speak with Rahul to lift the protest, but in vain. Singh later accused Rahul of conduct unbecoming of LoP in Lok Sabha after his refusal to lift the sit-in, despite govt agreeing to his sole demand of having a debate on NEET-UG paper leak issue in Parliament.

Singh said Rahul's demand for Pradhan's resignation was an afterthought after the top govt leadership agreed to his initial solitary demand for a debate in Parliament over the paper leak and related issues, including protests. "For a leader like him, who is also LoP, to go back on his word is contrary to every norm of democracy," he said.

Nabin said Rahul and other protestors' behaviour and their attempt to "incite anarchy" outside Modi's residence showed this is not politics of dissent, but politics of anarchy. "It is particularly concerning that a senior leader like Mallikarjun Kharge accompanied Rahul," he added.

The dharna started around 3.30pm and went on for over three hours, and also included two Congress CMs V D Satheesan (Kerala) and D K Shivakumar (Karnataka).

Congress' first-ever protest led by its Rae Bareli MP Rahul on the issue in the national capital is being seen in political circles as the party's attempt to upstage its 'secular' rivals by associating itself with the angst of a section of the youth without conceding leadership to Cockroach Janta Party.

Taken aback by Congress's protest, AAP's former Delhi CM Atishi accused Congress of indulging in a 'jugalbandi' with govt to weaken CJP's stir. "Modi ji got Rahul Gandhi to stage a protest outside his own residence," AAP MP Sanjay Singh alleged.


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