Rahul, Priyanka, Kharge lead Congress march to PM’s Residence over police crackdown on protesters
Senior Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra led a protest towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s house in New Delhi on Tuesday, demanding accountability for the police action against the protesters during the march to the Parliament by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP).
The Congress leaders joined their local workers at Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s house at Rajaji Marg and proceeded towards the Prime Minister’s house at Lok Kalyan Marg. The Delhi Police deployed additional security and has detained several protestors as they tried to proceed ahead towards the high security zone during the protest.
The protest happened one day after a day-long march to Parliament by the CJP demanding resignation of the Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan for the alleged leaking of NEET and other examination papers. CJP stated that police had fired lathis and tear gas on the protesters and several, among them students, got injured.
The Delhi Police has, however, defended its action, stating that the protesters began to be violent, hurl stones, break the police vehicles and assault the security personnel. The police reported that 118 of its officers, including high-ranking officials, had been injured in the rioting.
In a move to shed light on the reasons behind the protest campaign by the Congress, Rahul Gandhi shared his perspectives on social media, announcing that the party was protesting to demand accountability for “brutality” towards the youths among the students. The Leader of the Opposition during the Lok Sabha also called for the resignation of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah for their responsivity in the incident.
It is noteworthy that Union Minister of State (PMO) Jitendra Singh visited the protest site and had a short engagement with Rahul Gandhi. Meanwhile the BJP alleged that it was Congress that had compromised the PM security and Congress leaders argued that their protest was peaceful and they were in search of answers from the government.