As the anger over paper leaks spilled onto the streets of Delhi on Monday and led to a police crackdown on the demonstrators, Opposition leaders targeted the Centre and called for a discussion on the matter in Parliament.
Several Opposition leaders said this was an opportunity to corner the government and expressed their resolve to disrupt parliamentary proceedings in the coming days to press for Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation, one of the primary demands of the protesters.
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Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi, labelling him “anti-youth”. “Prime Minister Modi is the most anti-youth Prime Minister in India’s history — so anti-youth that he can’t even demand the resignation of a failed Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.”
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The LoP said despite 152 paper leaks and “7.5 crore students victimized”, no one had been punished. “Who got the punishment? The hardworking youth. And when these children raised legitimate questions about education — they were met with batons and detention in response … The criminals who leaked the papers roam free — and the students raising valid issues are dragged around, beaten. This government isn’t just failing the youth — it’s pouncing on them.”
Earlier in the day, as Opposition leaders gathered to chalk out their strategy on the floor of Parliament, the Congress pointed out how it had also launched a movement on matters related to the education system. After consulting allies, the party agreed to be more forceful while raising the matter of protesters facing police action on the streets of the Capital.
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In the Rajya Sabha, House LoP and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge told the Chair he wanted to speak on the issue of paper leak and the NEET examination “ghotala (scam)”. “This is an issue of students and the issue of the future of lakhs of students. Thousands of students have gathered together at Jantar Mantar against this, and the government is carrying out a lathi-charge against them, and the government is trying to crush and beat them,” he said.
In the Parliament House complex, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra criticised the use of force on the protesters. “It’s ridiculous … They are our own children … they are the future of the country. This Parliament belongs to them. It’s no one’s personal fiefdom.”
Opposition’s hopes
In the current demonstrations, some Opposition leaders see an echo of the Anna Hazare movement. The BJP benefitted from Hazare’s campaign against corruption, eventually unseating the Congress from power in 2014. That is the sort of impact the Opposition is hoping to achieve this time too.
“We have been saying there should be a discussion as there are problems in the education policy. You are not ready to discuss and fire tear gas at children and beat them up. For what? They are our children,” said the Wayanad MP. Later in a post on X, she asked the BJP-led government to review its policies and shortcomings and called for a detailed discussion on this issue in the Lower House. The Prime Minister should listen to the concerns of the country’s millions of youth and respond to them, Gandhi said.
Several Opposition leaders The Indian Express spoke to deemed it a rare moment when “organic anger” against the Modi government is seen on the streets and emphasised the need to capitalise on this. The leaders said they would continue to disrupt Parliament and submit adjournment motions demanding a discussion on paper leaks.
At the meeting of the Opposition floor leaders on Monday morning, the Congress initially insisted that they should raise the alleged theft of donations at the Ayodhya Ram Temple. However, after its allies pressed it to consider speaking up about the protest by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) and the plight of activist Sonam Wangchuk, it agreed, sources said. It was also decided that a “united Opposition” would continue to raise the issue of paper leaks and the Ram Temple in the coming days and not let the House function till the government agrees to a discussion on education reforms.
A Congress leader said the party had slowly realised that it could not avoid such a mass movement while being the main Opposition party. “While we were unsure initially, we are slowly getting to the point where we know we can’t stay away from the movement or this moment,” said a senior MP of the party.
The Congress’s focus, insiders said, was on ensuring that the Ram Temple issue doesn’t fade away. “We feel that the temple issue is something that can’t be washed away in this CJP and NEET issue,” said an MP.
Leaders of the Samajwadi Party (SP), the second-largest Opposition party in the Lok Sabha, said paper leaks were a more urgent issue than Ram Temple, saying they could focus on it a few days later.
An SP MP told The Indian Express it was time for the Opposition to bring parliamentary proceedings to a halt in protest. “We are preparing adjournment motions and a strategy to demand a discussion on this paper leak issue in the House. It is now our responsibility to make the government feel the heat after what happened today,” said the MP.
SP MP Iqra Choudhary told The Indian Express, “We have been active participants in the protests and will continue to be.”
A CPI MP said the Congress cannot avoid this protest. “This is a moment that the Congress or the Opposition can’t avoid. We will convey this to the Congress too, and we are sure they will be on board. They are also realising they can’t sit back while young people are bleeding on the streets,” said the MP.
CPI(M) Rajya Sabha member John Brittas said the “united Opposition” needs to understand and cooperate with this youth movement. “So many young people have sustained serious injuries. How can this government be so insensitive?” he said.
TMC MP Sagarika Ghose told The Indian Express that the party had supported the CJP from Day 1 and would continue to do so.
Another TMC MP said that the non-Congress parties were sure of their support for the CJP and that it was non-negotiable at this point.
“The Congress also wants to keep the focus on the Ram Temple issue because of Uttar Pradesh polls and that is also fine. But this issue can’t be ignored now. We see this as a moment that can be used to corner the government. All their claims of everyone being happy under this government have fallen flat, and we can’t let that be. No one in the Opposition or the government expected this kind of turnout on Monday. And since it has become so big, we have to rally behind the young people,” said the MP.