New Delhi | In a dramatic turn of events, opposition leaders, including Congress's Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and Samajwadi Party's (SP) Akhilesh Yadav, were forcibly removed by police on Tuesday after they staged a dharna outside Prime Minister Narendra Modi's residence here, demanding his resignation.
The surprise sit-in in the high-security zone sent the government into a tizzy, prompting it to rush Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) Jitendra Singh, along with Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan, to persuade the opposition leaders to vacate the sensitive site.
Gandhi's discussion with the minister lasted a few minutes, after which Singh and the home secretary left as the talks remained inconclusive.
Soon after Singh left the protest site, police forcibly removed and detained Gandhi and other leaders in the evening.
Congress leaders said Gandhi was taken to the Chhatrasal stadium in Model Town after his detention.
As police swooped down on the site, Gandhi, who is the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha, was seen lying on the ground and resisting as the security personnel tried to pick him up. The Congress leader was hurt in the process.
"Democracy in India is happening right now," Gandhi told reporters as police tried to remove him from the site.
An aide of the former Congress chief told PTI that Gandhi suffered an injury below the eye, as well as minor injuries on his hands and legs.
Later, Gandhi shared pictures on X of police removing him from the protest site and said, "Modiji, try every pressure, exert all your might -- this fight for justice for students will not stop now."
There were dramatic scenes, with Priyanka Gandhi hanging on the door of the police bus even after it started moving.
"Leader of the Opposition Shri Rahul Gandhi has been forcibly removed. What kind of democracy is this?" Kharge said in a post on X.
He claimed that the "tyrannical" government is "trembling in fear".
"The second name of dictatorship is Amit-shahi," Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said in a post on X.
Congress leader Pawan Khera said police have "brutally" taken away his party colleagues, but they will continue demanding the resignation of Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
Singh told Gandhi that the Centre is ready to discuss the issue of NEET and other related matters in Parliament and he should thus end his stir, but the Congress leader was unrelenting and continued with his protest, with several of his party colleagues raising slogans demanding Modi's resignation.
Singh later accused Gandhi of "backtracking" from his earlier demand for a debate and said the Congress leader is now demanding Pradhan's resignation.
The minister said this does not befit a leader of Gandhi's stature. "A senior leader like Rahul Gandhi going back on his word is unfortunate and contrary to every norm of democracy," he said in a post on X.
"The government is ready to discuss in Parliament all issues related to NEET and the associated movement.... Rahul Gandhi's behaviour does not align with the principles of democracy," Singh said.
Gandhi, along with other Congress leaders, including the chief ministers of Karnataka and Kerala and several MPs, launched the sit-in around 3:30 pm against Monday's police action on protesting students.
The unprecedented scenes unfolded soon after Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi met the injured students at a hospital here.
Rahul Gandhi, along with Kharge, Priyanka Gandhi, Karnataka Chief Minister D K Shivakumar and Kerala Chief Minister V D Satheesan, raised slogans against Modi.
Yadav and NCP-SP leader Supriya Sule joined them later.
The protesting leaders symbolically tied their hands while agitating against alleged restrictions on people's freedom imposed by the BJP-led Centre.
Gandhi earlier said 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 in a post on X.
Some of the MPs also accused the Delhi Police of using force against them in order to remove them from the protest site. Among others, former Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi, the Congress's chief whip in the Lok Sabha K Suresh and MP Sukhjinder Randhawa were whisked away by police.
Kharge also left the site after a couple of hours.
The Congress president later said the arrogant rulers will have to bow down before the resounding voice of students. "Modi-Shah will have to take responsibility for the lathicharge and use of force," Kharge said.
"When students took to the streets demanding justice, they unleashed lathicharge and rained down blows on them!
"They locked the gates of Parliament, imprisoned the MPs, refused to heed the united opposition's call for a debate, did not dismiss Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Modiji remained silent on the atrocities against students, the Home Minister, who controls the Delhi Police, issued no statement despite our demands," Kharge said in a post on X, adding that when they staged the sit-in, MPs were dragged away by force.
New Delhi | The government on Tuesday said it is ready to discuss all issues relating to the NEET exam and the movement associated with it in Parliament, after Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi sat on a dharna outside Prime Minister Narendra Modi's residence.
In a strongly worded statement, Minister of State in PMO Jitendra Singh, who along with Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan met Gandhi and urged him to end his sit-in, alleged that the LoP "backtracked" from his earlier demand for a debate and said it does not befit a leader of his stature.
Singh said Rahul Gandhi did not agree to his request and instead demanded that Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan must also resign.
The minister also said that the Congress "has not given any notice to date for a formal discussion on this serious matter (NEET issue) as per rules".
"For a senior leader like Shri Rahul Gandhi and the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) to go back on his word is unfortunate and contrary to every norm of democracy," the minister said.
"The government is ready to discuss in Parliament all issues related to NEET and the associated movement... Shri Rahul Gandhi's behaviour does not align with the principles of democracy," Singh said.
The MoS PMO and the Union Home Secretary met Gandhi soon after he, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge and several other senior leaders sat on a dharna outside Prime Minister Modi's residence and demanded his resignation over the police action against students protesting on the NEET paper leak issue.
Soon after Singh's statement, police on Tuesday evening forcibly removed and detained Gandhi and other leaders.
In the statement and video message, the minister said some time ago it came to light that Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and other senior leaders such as Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and others, suddenly sat on protest near Akbar Road with their supporters.
"In view of the dignity of this senior delegation, the government sent me personally, along with the Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan, to the spot to hold talks with these senior leaders.
"A request was made to Shri Rahul Gandhi to end his sit-in, as this site is not meant for protests, and holding a sit-in here is causing considerable inconvenience to the general public," he said.
The MoS PMO said Gandhi put forward the demand that if the government agrees to discuss in Parliament all issues related to NEET and the associated movement, he would immediately end his sit-in.
Within a few moments, after taking permission from the government's top leadership, Rahul was assured that his demand has been accepted, and the government is ready to discuss in Parliament all issues related to NEET and the associated movement.
"When this information was conveyed to Shri Rahul Gandhi, he said that he would not agree to this alone but also sought assurance for the resignation of the Union Education Minister (Dharmendra Pradhan)," he said.
Singh said Gandhi then said that he now has two demands: discussion in Parliament and the resignation of the Union Education Minister.
When the Congress leader was reminded that earlier he had only demanded discussion, he said that now my demands have changed.
"When an attempt was made to humbly explain to him that for a senior leader like him to backtrack from his word so quickly does not befit him, he said that it is his prerogative.
"When the Home Secretary tried to explain that this site is not suitable for a sit-in, his response was that it is also his prerogative to sit wherever he wants," the MoS said.
Singh said for a senior leader like Rahul Gandhi and the Leader of the Opposition to go back on his word is "unfortunate and contrary to every norm of democracy".
"The government is ready to discuss in Parliament all issues related to NEET and the associated movement. In contrast, the Congress Party has not given any notice to date for a formal discussion on this serious matter as per rules. Shri Rahul Gandhi's behaviour does not align with the principles of democracy," he said.
New Delhi | The Congress' top leadership surprised not just the government and the police but also several of its MPs in staging a sit-in at one of the gates of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 7, Lok Kalyan Marg residence.
For the party's top leaders to stage a protest at such a high-security area, it was important to maintain secrecy as otherwise the area could have been blockaded, a party leader in the know of the developments said.
MPs were told that they need to reach party president Mallikarjun Kharge's residence - 10 Rajaji Marg - for wishing him on his birthday.
Therefore, many MPs were oblivious to what was coming and reached Kharge's residence. They were then asked to follow Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra as suddenly the top leaders moved towards the 7, Lok Kalyan Marg gate which is about 500 metres from Kharge's house.
Other party leaders also had no clue about the development and they reached the spot as soon as the word spread.
Only the top leaders were in the know of the move and they reached Kharge's residence after both Houses of Parliament were adjourned. Most MPs, however, had no clue about the plan.
Kharge, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra staged a sit-in at one of the gates of 7, Lok Kalyan Marg. Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, along with Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav, were forcibly removed by the police while demanding Modi's resignation.
The surprise sit-in by the Congress top brass at the high security zone sent the government into a tizzy, prompting it to rush Minister of State in PMO Jitendra Singh along with Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan to persuade the leaders of opposition to vacate the sensitive site.
Gandhi's discussion with the minister lasted a few minutes, after which Singh and the home secretary left as talks remained inconclusive.
Soon after Singh left, the police in the evening forcibly removed and detained Gandhi and other leaders.
As police swooped down on the site, the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha could be seen lying on the ground and resisting as security personnel tried to pick him up. He was hurt in the process.
"Democracy in India is happening right now," Gandhi said as the police tried to forcibly remove him from the site.
There were dramatic scenes with Priyanka Gandhi hanging on the door of the police bus even after it started moving.
