Say sorry, sack Dharmendra Pradhan: Rahul Gandhi targets Modi govt over NEET protests, alleges 152 paper leaks in 10 years

New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday stepped up his attack on the Modi government, alleging that India's education system has become a "rigged system", with 152 paper leaks in the past decade and no convictions. Backing the agitating students, he reiterated his demand for the resignation of Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan, sought accountability for those who ordered and carried out the lathi-charge on students, and demanded that the Prime Minister apologise for the police action. He described the lathi-charge and the detention of Congress leaders led by him outside the Prime Minister's residence the previous day as a sign of the government's "panic reaction".

"The thing that is very clear to everybody is that our education system, which was known to be one of the best education systems in the world, is today a rigged system... In the last 10 years, 152 leaks have taken place and zero convictions... Every month, lakhs of students are told that all the stress that you went through you're going to have to go through again... 7.5 crore students and their families are affected by this," Gandhi said at a press conference.

Calling them the students' "non-negotiable demands", Gandhi said Pradhan should be relieved of his duties, alleging he had failed as education minister. He also demanded that "every single person" who ordered and executed the lathi-charge on students be held accountable and said the Prime Minister, as the person ultimately responsible, should apologise to the students. Gandhi further accused the government of shutting the doors of job opportunities on students after their studies.


On the lathi-charge and the detention of Congress leaders outside the Prime Minister's residence, Gandhi said, "Because in every government there comes a time when psychologically they collapse. The leadership collapses. So that has happened. The government is actually in panic."

Referring to his detention, Gandhi said: "It's fine. I'm used to getting punched. It's no problem. My job is to express the will of India's people, whether it is the will of the students, young people or farmers. This is the job that I am supposed to do as leader of opposition."