Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and several opposition leaders on Thursday arrived at Gandhi Smriti on Tees Jan Marg to pay tribute to students who died by suicide due to the NEET paper leak controversy and to express solidarity with those injured during the recent police action on protesters.
However, the visit was marked by a heavy police presence, barricades and allegations by Congress that opposition leaders were prevented from moving freely.
While opposition MPs were gathering at Rahul Gandhi’s residence on Sunehri Bagh Road earlier, a heavy police presence was seen.
Barricades, buses and India Gate refused to nod
Police initially put up barricades on Sunehri Bagh Road to prevent Congress and Youth Congress workers from moving towards Teez Jan Marg. The barricades were later removed, allowing Rahul Gandhi and the MPs to proceed.
In a post on X, Congress leader P Chidambaram said the MPs had been waiting inside the buses for more than 25 minutes, claiming that roads in central Delhi had been barricaded and hundreds of police personnel deployed.
“We sat in buses for more than 25 minutes. All roads were blocked and hundreds of policemen were mobilized to ‘secure’ Delhi’s roads! What is the government afraid of? Why this sense of panic?” books.
However, near Home Minister Amit Shah’s residence, the leaders were stopped again, as police cited prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) Act, which prohibits gathering of five or more people in the area. They were later allowed to proceed towards Gandhi Smriti.
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Speaking to reporters while inside the bus, Gandhi claimed that the opposition first sought permission to visit India Gate in solidarity with the students but was denied.
“In solidarity with the students, we wanted to take the opposition MPs to India Gate. But then they refused. So we wanted to take them to Tees Jan Marg, the site of Gandhi’s assassination. Now what they have done is they have put this bus in front of us. They have set up barricades and stopped a bus on this side here. So we cannot go. And they are staging a drama. They are clearly afraid,” Gandhi said.
He added, “All the representatives felt that if the students are in the streets, we should be in the streets as well.”
“Oppn stands with students”
In a post on
“Right now, India Alliance MPs and leaders peacefully head to Gandhi Smriti on Tees January Marg. We go to remember the students we lost, the children driven to suicide after NEET papers leaked. We go to stand with the students who lie injured today, beaten up for their peaceful demand for justice and accountability. India’s students are not alone. The entire opposition stands with them and their demands,” he wrote.
Gandhi was accompanied by several senior opposition leaders, including Congress president Mallikarjun Karg, Congress parliamentary party president Sonia Gandhi, P Chidambaram, KC Venugopal, Jairam Ramesh, Pramod Tiwari and Renuka Chowdhury. Leaders from other India Bloc parties, including NCP’s Supriya Sule (Sharad Pawar), RJD’s Misa Bharti, Trinamool Congress leaders Mahua Moitra and Kalyan Banerjee, Communist Party of India’s P Sandosh Kumar, and Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Arvind Sawant also joined the march.
Congress party workers claimed that Gandhi was effectively put under “house arrest” after police set up barricades outside his residence, ANI reported. Indian Youth Congress president Uday Bano Shib accused the Center of trying to prevent the opposition leader from raising concerns among students, while Congresswoman Renuka Chaudhary said the party would not be intimidated by the police.
(With inputs from ANI and PTI)
