Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, on Saturday reacted to the Narendra Modi government’s acceptance of all the demands made by the Janta Party, saying it was “one step in a very deep problem” and directly attacked Home Minister Amit Shah over the alleged use of pellet guns on protesters.
Addressing his second press conference today, the Congress leader said the protest was a “warning” from students and the opposition to the government.
“This is a warning from the students and the opposition that you cannot run the country the way you have been running it. This is not your personal fiefdom,” Gandhi said.
He added: “We hold Amit Shah directly responsible for the violence meted out to our students. He allowed the shooting of our students, authorized the use of lethal weapons, and authorized the use of bullets against them. This is a key issue. We do not accept our security forces firing on the future of India. This will be a key issue in Parliament.”
Delhi Police denied using pellet guns on protesters in Delhi, although Gandhi brought in a person on Friday who he claimed was hit by pellets during the students’ march to Parliament on Monday.
Rahul on Dharmendra Pradhan
Rahul Gandhi described Dharmendra Pradhan, who resigned as education minister earlier in the day due to massive protests, as a “symbol of corruption, inefficiency and destruction of the education system”.
“It is good to remove this symbol. But now, to fix the education system, the government will have to take strict action. The students have two more demands, which we must not forget. Strict action must be taken against those who brutalized the students. Narendra Modi must apologize to all the students of the country,” he said.
This comes after two major announcements were made during a joint press conference held by union ministers Jitendra Singh and JP Nadda, and CJP spokespersons Ashutosh Ranka and Sourav Das. The CJP withdrew its agitation “in good faith”, and the government agreed to withdraw all cases against the student protesters and accept all the demands of the CJP.
This came in the wake of Pradhan’s resignation, which was the main demand of the CJP’s protest. After that, there were two major demands pending – $Rs 1 crore each as compensation to the families of students who died by suicide after NEET-UG paper leak, ensuring that no legal action is taken against the protesters.
