Dharmendra Pradhan’s first reaction to RJD protest: ‘Rahul Gandhi is using students as political tools’

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Monday broke his silence on the Cockroach Janata Party’s (CJP) protest over alleged leakage of NEET papers and examination irregularities, accusing opposition leader Rahul Gandhi and the Congress of “shamelessly exploiting students as political pawns” to disrupt the monsoon session of Parliament.

The statement marks Pradhan’s first public response after the RJD’s Chalo Sansad protest in Delhi, where police charged protesters, and a political standoff between the opposition and the BJP-led Center over alleged exam irregularities.

In a post on X, Pradhan alleged that Rahul Gandhi and the Congress staged a protest outside Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s residence, causing inconvenience to the public and ignoring established security protocols.

“LoP Shri Rahul Gandhi and INNCIndia continue to shamelessly exploit students as political tools to manufacture disturbance during the monsoon session of Parliament,” he wrote.

The Education Minister said the government had already expressed its readiness to hold a comprehensive discussion on the issue in Parliament, but claimed that Congress had chosen “political spectacle over democratic debate.”

“Their goal was never to find solutions for students, it was to disrupt political headlines,” Pradhan said.

He further alleged that Rahul Gandhi was seeking to “manufacture confrontation” despite what he described as opening every real avenue for discussion.

“For Rahul Gandhi, it is not about the students. It is about manufacturing confrontation after opening every real avenue for discussion,” he said.

“Our government remains 100% committed to discussing NEET and addressing all the real concerns of our youth in the House,” he said.

“India’s students deserve much better than being treated as props in a political campaign. They deserve certainty rather than chaos, solutions rather than slogans, and responsibility rather than disruption.”

He added that the government remains committed to providing “answers, reforms and accountability” to students.

The crowds swelled over the weekend, and by Monday morning, queues of people – many of them students, first-time agitators and young professionals – braved persistent monsoon rains and heavy police barriers to join the first public protest of Modi’s third term.

Officials admitted that they underestimated the strength of the gathering and estimated it at about 35,000 people, but demonstrators and eyewitnesses said the number was at least twice that. Nearly 2,000 police personnel and 20 companies of paramilitary forces were deployed.

Throughout the day, the echoes of tear gas shells fired at protesters echoed in central Delhi; Police said the instigators turned violent and threw stones. Delhi Police said 118 personnel, including senior officers, were injured. The exact number of injured demonstrators was not immediately known. However, reports said the injured could be in the hundreds – with officials at one government hospital confirming that “at least 100” protesters were being treated for injuries. Police estimated the number of injured protesters at 60.

However, the BJP asserted that it was ready to hold a detailed discussion on the issue in Parliament and accused the opposition of trying to disrupt the work of the Assembly instead of participating in a democratic debate.