Rahul Gandhi Slams Police Action on NEET Protesters, Demands PM’s Apology

New Delhi, July 2026 : Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday launched a sharp attack on the Centre over the police action against students protesting at Jantar Mantar over the alleged NEET paper leak, calling the crackdown “brutal” and demanding an unconditional apology from the government.

Speaking to reporters outside Parliament, the Congress leader said the students were peacefully raising concerns about what he described as a “broken” education and examination system. He criticised the use of force against the protesters, stating that resorting to a lathi charge instead of addressing their grievances was unacceptable.

Rahul Gandhi questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s silence on the issue and urged him to publicly condemn the police action. “Students are being beaten for demanding accountability. This is completely unacceptable. The Prime Minister should speak, apologise for the incident, and stop this kind of action against young people who are simply raising their voices,” he said.

Flanked by senior Congress leaders, including Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and other party MPs, Rahul alleged that India’s education system had deteriorated significantly and claimed repeated examination controversies had eroded the confidence of students across the country. He said the youth were protesting because they believed the system had failed them and accused the government of ignoring repeated warnings about shortcomings in the examination process.

The Congress MP maintained that his party had consistently raised concerns over reforms in the education sector and examination mechanism but alleged that the government had failed to take corrective measures. He asserted that students deserved transparency, fairness, and accountability rather than police action.

Rahul Gandhi also criticised Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, accusing him of not allowing adequate discussion on issues of public importance. Earlier in the day, he met the Speaker and urged him to permit a detailed debate in Parliament on the police action against students and the larger examination crisis.

After the meeting, Rahul posted on social media platform X that Parliament should hold a comprehensive discussion on the alleged police excesses against students as well as the government’s handling of recurring examination controversies. He said lawmakers had a responsibility to address the concerns of lakhs of students affected by alleged irregularities in competitive examinations.

The Congress has intensified its protests over the incident, describing the police action as an attack on peaceful demonstrators. With the Opposition continuing to press for a discussion on the issue alongside other matters such as examination irregularities and political controversies, Parliament witnessed repeated disruptions and is likely to face further disruptions in the coming days.

(The content of this article is sourced from a news agency and has not been edited by the Mavericknews30 team.)