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.

New Delhi, July 22: The Delhi Police denied claims of stone-pelting and police action circulating on social media, calling the videos and allegations “false and misleading” and urging citizens not to share unverified information.

In a post on X, DCP New Delhi said, “There are various videos circulating on social media claiming incidents of stone pelting and police action today. These claims are false and misleading. No such incident has taken place today. Citizens are requested not to believe or share such videos and are advised to rely only on official sources for authentic information and updates.”

The clarification came as protesters remained at Jantar Mantar on Tuesday, continuing their demonstration a day after clashes broke out between demonstrators and security forces in Delhi during the ‘Sansad Chalo’ march.

Thousands of supporters of the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) and students had marched from Jantar Mantar towards Parliament on Monday, demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over alleged examination irregularities, including the NEET-UG paper leak controversy.

The police had imposed prohibitory orders and placed barricades along the route to prevent the march from reaching Parliament.

After security personnel dismantled the protest stage and tents at Jantar Mantar, demonstrators returned to the site on Tuesday following a call from the CJP to continue the agitation. A heavy deployment of Delhi Police and Rapid Action Force (RAF) personnel remained in place at the protest venue.

CJP spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka said the protesters would continue their agitation until their demand for Pradhan’s resignation was addressed. Speaking to media, Ranka alleged that protesters, including students and volunteers, faced police action during Monday’s confrontation and claimed that several people were injured.

He said the movement would continue and attract more participants following what he described as the “brutality” of the police action. Ranka also alleged that women protesters, including Geetanjali J. Angmo, the wife of activist Sonam Wangchuk, were mistreated during the clashes.