The protest comes a day after the Cockroach Janta Party’s march to Parliament, which saw lathicharging and teargassing by the police, as well as violence by protesters.
New Delhi: Seeking to pile on the pressure on the Centre a day after the Cockroach Janta Party-led march to Parliament, Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge and Priyanka Gandhi led a protest to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s residence in New Delhi.
Congress workers led by the Congress president and the Gandhi siblings gathered outside Kharge’s house at 10, Rajaji Marg on Tuesday afternoon and marched to the PM’s residence at 7, Lok Kalyan Marg, just over a kilometre away.
The Cockroach Janta Party’s march to Parliament on Monday saw protesters, mostly students and young people, being lathicharged and tear-gassed by the police as well as the Rapid Action Force. The CJP, which is seeking Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation over NEET and other paper leaks, said several people were injured and left bleeding after the action by the security forces.
The Delhi Police, on the other hand, accused the protesters of displaying “unruly, aggressive and violent behaviour” and said they attacked personnel with stones, vandalised police vehicles and resorted to “large-scale violence”. The force said 118 police personnel were injured, including senior officers.
Taking to X on Tuesday, Rahul Gandhi, who is the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, said the Congress protest was aimed at seeking accountability from the government for the “brutality” against the protesters. Going a step further from the CJP, he demanded the resignations of PM Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah.
“We have marched to PM Modi’s house to demand answers from him for the brutalities against young students yesterday. The Government doesn’t want to take any accountability or (sic) does it want to have a debate on it in Parliament. PM and HM must resign for destroying the future of India’s youth,” he wrote.
The Delhi Police, which appeared to be caught off-guard by the Congress demonstration, rushed additional contingents to the PM’s residence and began detaining protesters. The BJP accused the Congress of putting the PM’s security at risk, but Congress leaders at the spot insisted that the protest was being held peacefully.
“The Prime Minister is not in the Parliament. He left the Parliament in a very short time yesterday as well. Where do we go to be heard? The protest is being held peacefully,” said Congress MP Manickam Tagore.
