Hyderabad, July 22: Workers of BJP and Congress clashed near the BJP office in Hyderabad on Wednesday as both the parties protested against each other over Tuesday’s incidents in New Delhi during the protest near Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s residence by Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi and other Congress and Samajwadi Party leaders over the police action against students protesting the NEET paper leaks.

While leaders and cadres of the BJP tried to take out a rally to protest what they called breach of security by Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, Congress party staged a protest in front of the BJP’s office to condemn detention of Rahul Gandhi and other leaders.

The activists of both the parties attacked each other with sticks and stones, resulting in injuries to some of the workers and a policewoman.

There was high tension near Telangana BJP headquarters and the nearby Congress headquarters Gandhi Bhavan in Nampally area.

Large number of BJP workers had gathered at the party office to participate in the protest against the Congress party. They marched towards Gandhi Bhavan and damaged flexis of the Congress party.

Police detained Telangana BJP president N. Ramchander Rao and other leaders and shifted him to Goshamahal Police Station.

Later, Congress and NSUI workers marched towards the BJP office to stage a protest.

The Congress workers led by MLC Balmori Venkat tried to lay siege to the BJP office. They raised slogans against Prime Minister Modi and Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

The BJP workers also gathered in large numbers, leading to a clash.

Workers of both the parties attacked each other with sticks and stones even as police intervened to detain protestors.

The protest and counter protest and clash led to a massive traffic jam in Nampally, Moazzam Jahi Market and the adjoining busy areas.

Meanwhile, attempt by Congress workers to stage protest at the office of Union Minister of State for Home Bandi Sanjay led to a clash between the cadres of the two parties in Karimnagar town.

Police resorted to lathi charge to disperse the clashing groups.

BJP workers alleged that they were attacked by Congress activists with sticks. The saffron party workers also retaliated.

New Delhi, July 22: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Bansuri Swaraj on Wednesday alleged that Congress MP and Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition (LoP), Rahul Gandhi, was running away from the duties of the Opposition and instead “only attempting to create a ruckus”.

This comes a day after LoP Gandhi along with other senior Congress leaders and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav staged a sit-in near Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s residence over the lathi charge on anti-NEET leak protestors, before being briefly detained by the police.

Addressing a press conference, Bansuri Swaraj reiterated the Centre’s stand that both Prime Minister Modi and the NDA government always prioritise the interests of students. “We work to ensure protection of the students’ future,” she asserted.

Reacting to the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP)-led agitation that has been demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the NEET paper leak, she said: “The movement, which CJP and other parties started, it was said that this is a students’ movement. You will see, the government’s attitude towards this movement has been sensitive.”

Referring to Abhijeet Dipke’s return from the US on June 6, the BJP MP said: “When he came on 6th June, Delhi Police gave him permission at the airport itself. Remember, Delhi Police did not wait for CJP’s lawyers to arrive and ask permission from the police. Respecting democracy, Delhi Police permitted (the protest) on the same day, and though that permission expired at 5 p.m., the protesters remained sitting there. They staged a sit-in at Jantar Mantar for 21 days. The Delhi Police did not carry out any action to remove them (from the protest site).”

“The government allowed this protest as long as it was peaceful. It is your right to oppose in a democracy…even when the protest took place without permission, the government didn’t create obstruction,” she added.

She alleged that the CJP-led protest is being “politicised”.

“The shocking part is that, on one hand, it is being claimed that this is a students’ movement, but you can clearly see how it is being politicised. Opposition parties are using it to serve their political interests, while they themselves are not united. You saw yesterday how Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi sat outside the Prime Minister’s residence, not at Jantar Mantar. We all know that the Prime Minister’s residence is a high-security zone. Rahul Gandhi himself should know this. After all, he spent part of his childhood at the residence, so he cannot be unaware of these facts,” she said.

Swaraj further accused LoP Gandhi of retracking from his statement.

“He (Rahul Gandhi) said that if the government is willing to discuss the issue in the Parliament then ‘we will leave the place’, since it the PM Modi-led government’s policy to seek solutions through dialogue, Union MoS Jitendra Singh reached there and tried to forge a communication with Rahul ji. But the Lok Sabha LoP retracted from his statement,” she said.

Moreover, the BJP MP claimed that no formal notice for a discussion on the paper leak has been submitted by the Opposition in the House.

She said: “Today the ‘193’ notice was submitted in the Parliament, even I submitted a notice seeking an open discussion on the NEET examination…because the government has nothing to hide and is in fact committed to students’ welfare. We are ready to answer the students of the country. But it seems that the Opposition is running away from its responsibilities.”

“Even the notice for discussion (on NEET) was submitted by the treasury benches and not by the Opposition. No formal notice was submitted by the LoP. The House does not function on anybody’s whims and fancies,” she remarked.

Swaraj stated that since Rahul Gandhi has the means to raise his voice in the House, he was asked to do so in a formal manner and get off from the high security zone near PM Modi’s residence, “but they don’t want to fulfill the role of the Opposition and instead only create ruckus”.

New Delhi, July 22: Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday accused the government of exploiting students and demanded the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and Home Minister Amit Shah over the NEET paper leak controversy.

LoP Rahul Gandhi, who was detained by Delhi Police during a sit-in outside Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s residence at Lok Kalyan Marg and later released, said the issue must be debated in both Houses of Parliament.

Speaking to reporters after meeting the Speaker of the Lok Sabha earlier in the day, LoP Rahul Gandhi said he had requested a debate on the treatment of students during Monday’s protests.

“The Speaker said he needed to take permission from the Government, but it was very clear to us in the hours after that that there was no interest in the Government of having a debate,” he said.

He added that the Opposition then decided to stage a dharna outside the Prime Minister’s residence to bring the students’ issue to national attention.

“This is the most crucial issue for the country, along with what has been done against them,” Gandhi remarked.

Questioning the state of the education system, LoP Rahul Gandhi asked: “Why is the Indian education system collapsing? Why are papers leaking? Why is education so expensive in India? Why do families have to destroy themselves financially to educate their children? These are legitimate questions, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with asking them.”

Outlining the students’ demands, Gandhi said they included the resignation of Pradhan and Shah, action against those who beat and humiliated the students, and the withdrawal of all cases registered against them.

He added that the entire Opposition wanted the issue debated in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.

“My suggestion to Modi ji, as LoP, is that for what happened yesterday, what your Government and your Home Minister did, you should apologise to the students of the country and start reforms in the examination system and education system as soon as possible,” LoP Rahul Gandhi said.

Thanking supporters, he added: “You all supported us. To everyone fighting together for the cause of the students, I thank you all from the bottom of my heart.”

The confrontation highlights the deepening rift between the government and the Opposition over the sensitive issue of paper leaks in competitive examinations, which continues to affect lakhs of students across the country.