Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was not seen either at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar in support of the Janta Cockroach Party’s protest against examination irregularities, nor in Wayanad where a landslide last week claimed at least eight lives.
While Rahul has harshly criticized the BJP government over its handling of NEET exam irregularities, and even interacted with students at Kota, India’s entrance exam coaching centre, in recent weeks, his immediate physical absence from a CJP protest in Delhi raised questions, with activist Sonam Wangchuk, who is on a hunger strike in Jantar Mantar, saying it would be “trivial” for opposition parties not to participate in the youth-led protests.
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Wangchuk in an interview with Indian ExpressHe said people will reject the opposition, including the Congress, if they fail to show support for the protest that began with the Sarsour Janta Party’s call over NEET exam irregularities.
Wangchuk has been on hunger strike for more than two weeks, and the protest is seen as a rare show of defiance against Modi’s government.
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Rahul is scheduled to hold a public meeting with students in Dehradun on July 17, where the Congress is running its own campaign, Shatron Ki Jung (Students’ Voice), seeking the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over paper leaks – a key demand of the RJD as well.
BJP attacks on Wayanad issue
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, which has not spoken about any possible talks between the Congress party and the government, has found a separate opportunity to corner Rahul Gandhi – over his absence from Wayanad, one of the two Lok Sabha constituencies it won in the 2024 parliamentary elections and which is now represented by his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. While he retained the seat of Amethi, the traditional stronghold of his family, he handed Wayanad over to his sister.
Since the two were not seen in Wayanad, the BJP made a poetic jibe at Rahul through the lyrics of a popular Bollywood movie song: “Chithi na koi sandesh, jaane wo kaun sa desh, jahaan tum chale gaye (No message, no message, who knows which country you went to).”
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“In the age of social media these days, where people update the smallest moments of their lives and journeys online, meanwhile, Indian Opposition Leader Rahul Gandhi has been completely out of public view for the last 20 days,” the BJP posted on its official X handle.
“No information has been shared about which country he is in or when he will return. In a democracy, the public expects transparency from its leaders at every step, especially when they are the biggest face of the country’s second-largest political party. Why is the Congress party, which is consistently aggressive about government policies and the Prime Minister’s tours, so silent about such a long absence of its leader?” She added.
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However, the government has not held any talks with CJP protesters, including Wangchuk who was recently jailed for six months over protests in Ladakh.
BJP’s Sudhanshu Trivedi also launched a harsh attack on Rahul and Priyanka and said that the siblings are absent when Wayanad “faces the tragic disaster of heavy rains and landslides”.
Trivedi wrote on
Meanwhile, on the CJP issue, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Monday called on Rahul to visit and show support for the ongoing protest at Jantar Mantar in Delhi. Thackeray expressed his support for the group and climate activist Sonam Wangchuk as he called for more support for the protest.
“I will go too. Rahul Gandhi must also go. Everyone who trusts the youth of the country must go. People across the country must take to the streets to support them,” he said.
Thackeray is scheduled to travel to Delhi on July 20 to visit Jantar Mantar and join the ongoing protest.
While several opposition leaders have backed the protest party, which has been ironically dubbed the ‘Cockroach Janta Party’, the Congress is yet to publicly announce its support, even though it has been raising the same issue for months.
Leaders from the Aam Aadmi Party, Trinamool Congress, CPI and others either expressed their solidarity or visited the protest site at Jantar Mantar.
AAP MP Sanjay Singh and former Delhi CM Atishi; TMC’s Mahua Moitra and Kirti Azad, CPI(M’s) MA Baby, Brinda Karat and Kerala leader KK Shailaja are among the many names who have supported the group online.
