Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Among Congress Leaders Detained After Protest Outside PM’s Residence

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and several senior party leaders were detained by Delhi Police on Tuesday after staging a more than two-hour sit-in outside Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s residence, escalating the Opposition’s protest against the police crackdown on the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP)-led student march.

Rahul Gandhi, accompanied by Priyanka Gandhi and other Congress leaders, reached 7 Lok Kalyan Marg and demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over alleged police excesses against students protesting exam paper leaks. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and NCP (SP) leader Supriya Sule also joined the demonstration.

The Congress leaders sat on the road raising slogans, while Gandhi said the protest was aimed at seeking accountability for the treatment of students. In a post on X, he accused the government of destroying the future of India’s youth and urged citizens to join the agitation. A video released by the party showed Congress MPs tying their wrists together with zip ties in an apparent attempt to resist detention.

The protest came hours after Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi visited Delhi’s Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital to meet students injured during Monday’s police action against the CJP’s “Chalo Sansad” march, which demanded the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over repeated exam paper leaks.

Union Minister Jitendra Singh said the government had agreed to Rahul Gandhi’s initial demand for a discussion in Parliament on the NEET paper leak issue, but alleged that the Congress leader later added a fresh condition seeking Pradhan’s resignation. Singh described the change in demands as inconsistent and said the government remained willing to hold a debate on the issue.

Before the protest, Rahul Gandhi criticised the government’s handling of student demonstrations, saying the youth were protesting not just against flaws in the examination system but also over a lack of opportunities and uncertainty about their future. He reiterated that accountability should extend beyond the education minister to the home minister and the prime minister.