The Union government and the BJP accused Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha of “changing the goalposts” with his demands for ending his sit-in outside Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s official residence over the NEET paper leak, resulting in Opposition leaders being summarily detained by Delhi Police, with BJP’s national president Nitin Nabin terming his conduct “a symbol of anarchy”.
The man at the centre of the controversy, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan also spoke up late on Tuesday evening (July 21, 2026), posting on X that Mr. Gandhi was “shamelessly” exploiting students as a “political tool”.
“LoP Shri @RahulGandhi and @INCIndia continue to shamelessly exploit students as political tools to manufacture disruption during the Monsoon Session of Parliament,” he posted, adding that Mr. Gandhi chose to stage a sit-in outside Prime Minister Modi’s residence disregarding security protocols.
“Even after the government conveyed its readiness for a comprehensive discussion, the Congress chose political spectacle over democratic debate,” Mr. Pradhan said. “For Rahul Gandhi, this is not about students. This is about manufacturing confrontation after every genuine avenue for discussion has been opened. The students of India deserve far better than being treated as props in a political campaign. They deserve certainty over chaos, solutions over slogans and responsibility over disruption. We owe our students more than outrage. We owe them answers, reforms and accountability. That is exactly what our government remains committed to delivering,” Mr. Pradhan added.
LoP Shri @RahulGandhi and @INCIndia continue to shamelessly exploit students as political tools to manufacture disruption during the Monsoon Session of Parliament.
Shri @RahulGandhi and @INCIndia chose to stage a dharna outside the Hon'ble Prime Minister's residence , causing…
Union Minister of State for the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) Jitendra Singh, the designated interlocutor on behalf of the government to speak to Mr. Gandhi, said the government was willing to discuss the NEET paper leak issue and the behaviour of the administration with regard to the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP)-led protest march held on Monday (July 20, 2026), but Mr. Gandhi demurred having agreed earlier.
“When we went there [the dharna spot in front of Mr. Modi’s official residence] and very politely, very humbly I tried to plead before Rahul Gandhi that this was not the manner in which he should be indulging. He said yes, he was ready to suspend this dharna provided he was given an assurance that government was ready for a discussion in Parliament on the issue of NEET exam, the paper leakage, [and] all those issues related to this,” said Mr. Singh.
Subsequently, the Minister said he got in touch with the top leadership of the government and was asked to convey that they were willing to concede the demand.
When he returned to Mr. Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition brought up an additional demand for the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
“Then, I politely tried to submit before him. I said look here, this is not done. Now, this is not a gentlemanly behaviour. He said no, it’s my wish, my demands have changed. I said this doesn’t behove an LoP to change stance and change goalposts that frequently. So, we had no option but to leave this part,” he said.
Following this, Mr. Singh left the area and Mr. Gandhi, Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Akhilesh Yadav, Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and others were detained by the Delhi Police, after an unseemly scuffle.
BJP’s national president Nitin Nabin raised objections to Mr Gandhi undertaking his sit-in at Prime Minister Modi’s residence, terming the move as a “symbol of anarchy”. “We have consistently maintained that Rahul Gandhi is emerging as a symbol of anarchy. Certain parliamentary offices do not belong to any single party; the Prime Minister is not merely the leader of one party but the elected representative of 1.4 billion citizens. The behaviour exhibited by Rahul Gandhi and his team and their attempt to incite anarchy during their visit to the Prime Minister’s residence today clearly indicates that this is not the politics of dissent, but rather the politics of anarchy,” said Mr Nabin in a statement.
He pointed out that he saw Tueday’s incident as “a dark day in India’s political history”, adding that the BJP had also served in the Opposition for long period without “breaching such boundaries.”.
“When Rahul Gandhi set conditions, they were accepted. Yet, it is unfortunate that a person holding the office of LoP backs out once the process moves forward... I would tell our colleagues in the Congress opposition that we are always ready for any kind of dialogue on the floor of Parliament,” he added.
According to senior government sources, the venue of Mr Gandhi’s sit-in location being right outside Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s official residence was the reason for the quick reaction and engagement demonstrated by the government. “It is not a designated place of protest and is a high-security zone,” said one senior Minister.
AAP MP Sanjay Singh posted on X that the government was shaken by the strength of the protests spearheaded by CJP (which has the backing of AAP) and the BJP wanted to counter this leading to the sit-in by Mr. Gandhi. “To weaken the CJP’s dharna, Modiji has seated Rahul Gandhi on a dharna at his residence,” Mr. Singh posted. This led to angry reactions from the Congress, and an opportunity for the BJP to say that the protests were more about who gets the credit of raising the issues faced by students and not the students themselves.
National in-charge of BJP’s Information & Technology department Amit Malviya posted on X: “It is quite obvious that the sponsored protests were never about students. No affected student was given a platform. Opposition politicians frequented Jantar Mantar in search of political relevance, and now we see Congress and AAP squabbling over credit.” He claimed that “no one other than the BJP” stands for students.
Published - July 21, 2026 09:39 pm IST