New Delhi: The Congress has rejected the Government’s outreach with the party’s MP and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha (LOP) Rahul Gandhi continuing his sit-in protest outside Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s residence on Tuesday.
Rahul has demanded an apology to students by the Prime Minister and his resignation along with Union home minister Amit Shah and Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, is also participating in the demonstration.
Earlier in the day, Jitendra Singh, minister of state in-charge of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) reached out to Rahul. The talk between the two leaders were inconclusive.
“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. PM and HM must resign for destroying the future of India’s youth,” Rahul posted on X.
While speaking with reporters in the Parliament House complex in the morning, Rahul said he met Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla along with other MPs and conveyed that the Opposition wants to discuss the issue of the students.
“He [Birla] said he will have to ask the government. So, the Speaker is telling us that to debate in Parliament he has to take permission from the government,” Rahul said.
“The issue is of students and the way people are being beaten up, this is completely ‘unIndian’. Modi ji has not even apologised for what has happened yesterday,” Rahul said.
The students are protesting over the education and testing system, he said.
“The whole country knows that the education system and the testing system is broken and has ceased to exist,” the LOP added.
Pitched battles were fought between the Delhi Police and members of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) that took out a march towards the Parliament from Jantar Mantar on Monday.
There was chaos with government property being vandalised and both protesters and policemen being injured.
Rahul further said that the testing system has been hollowed out by termites and that is what the students are stating.
“There is nothing wrong with that. We have been having presentation after presentation on it. Why is the PM silent? What is the reason? He should apologise to the students and stop this nonsense of the police thrashing students,” he said, adding that he would meet the injured students.
When asked about the Opposition’s demand that Dharmendra Pradhan should resign, Rahul said Pradhan is an intermediary.
“Absolutely, he should resign but Dharmendra Pradhan has not beaten up these students, but the home minister (Amit Shah) has, he should resign and the Home Minister reports to the PM, he should resign,” Rahul said, as reported by The Indian Express.
Meanwhile, protesters are regrouping at Jantar Mantar. A steady stream of people are continuing to enter the protest site, despite the rain.
The police and Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) personnel have also been deployed in large numbers to prevent any march by the protesters.