The Cockroach Janta Party’s (CJP) protest continues at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi as it demands the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over NEET exam paper leak, while the Opposition parties are set to raise the issue in Parliament during the third day of the Monsoon Session.
Also read: Dharmendra Pradhan a ‘big liability’, should have quit: Renuka Chowdhury
Several Opposition leaders, including NCP (SP) president Sharad Pawar and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal, visited the CJP’s protest site at Jantar Mantar on Tuesday, a day after the police crackdown on its ‘Sansad Chalo’ march, and extended support to the agitation over alleged irregularities in competitive examinations.
Pawar, accompanied by party MP Supriya Sule, met injured protesters and members of the movement and condemned the police action during Monday’s attempted march to Parliament.
Also read: Pradhan slams Congress for ‘shamelessly exploiting students as political tools’
Among other political leaders who visited the protest site were Shiv Sena (UBT) MPs Sanjay Raut and Arvind Sawant, Rajya Sabha MP Mahua Maji, Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, AAP leader Gopal Rai, Kerala Congress (M) leader Jose K. Mani, and a delegation of parliamentarians from Left parties.
Abhijeet Dipke, the founder of CJP, urged the party’s supporters not to heed to rumours and urged them to assemble only at Jantar Mantar for peaceful protests and not anywhere else.
There were protests in several other cities in the country, supporting the CJP.
Congress leaders detained, released
On Tuesday, in a dramatic turn of events, Opposition leaders, including Congress’s Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Samajwadi Party’s (SP) Akhilesh Yadav, were forcibly removed by police after they staged a dharna outside Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s residence in New Delhi, 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.
Rahul’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 Rahul and other leaders in the evening.
Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul was taken to the Chhatrasal stadium in Model Town after his detention, but was released a few hours later. Priyanka Gandhi and some other MPs were taken to the Mandir Marg police station, where Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Ganshi visited them. They were released after a few hours. Some other MPs and leaders were taken to the Kingsway Camp police station and released later.
‘Modi should apologise’
After his release, Rahul said in a video that once it was clear that the government had no intentions of scheduling a debate on the students’ issue, they decided to hold the sit-in outside the prime minister’s residence.
“The idea was to protest outside the prime minister’s residence in order to bring to national attention the issues related to students, the way they were attacked by the Delhi Police on Monday, issues which are of utmost importance to the country.
“The students are demanding the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and (Home Minister) Amit Shah, action against those who have humiliated them and beaten them up and the withdrawal of cases against them,” Rahul said.
He asserted that the entire Opposition believes that this is the biggest issue confronting the country today, so it should be debated in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, and “we should be allowed to speak”.
“I have one suggestion for Mr Narendra Modi. He should apologise to the students of the country for what the government and the Home Minister did on Monday and as soon as possible, bring in reforms in the examination system,” he said.
Following the protests, security arrangements have been stepped up across the national capital. Multi-layered barricades have been erected at strategic points, vehicle checking has been intensified, and additional police and paramilitary personnel have been deployed at sensitive locations, key government installations and major intersections.
Follow live updates of CJP’s protest and the Parliament Monsoon Session, here.
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