The principal Opposition party, the Congress, on Tuesday (July 21, 2026) seized the leadership of the anti-government agitation protesting the spate of paper leaks and seeking education reform, with the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi leading the Congress contingent to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s doorstep. They were accompanied by other top Opposition leaders, including Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav.
Taken by surprise, the Delhi police scurried into action, leading to a showdown between the two sides. Three hours into the sit-in protest and after a failed attempt to negotiate with the Parliamentarians, the police forcibly cleared the area and detained several leaders, including Mr. Gandhi, who resisted by lying flat on the road.
CJP protest LIVE updates on July 21, 2026
Till the time of going to the press, the Congress MPs continued to be detained at different locations in the capital. Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi had reached Mandir Marg police station where Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was detained with others. While being carried away by police, Ms. Vadra had shouted, “Narendra Modi is a coward.” Congress workers held protests outside the police station.
“Modi ji, try every pressure, exert all your might- this fight for justice for students will not stop or be halted,” Mr. Gandhi posted on X, while being detained at Chattrasal Stadium.
Speaking to The Hindu from the same location, Congress general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal said that in the last two days, the Modi government’s real face had been exposed. “Yesterday, the police attacked students and today they manhandled the Leader of Opposition himself,” Mr. Venugopal said. “This is the beginning of the end of the Modi regime.”
A battery of BJP leaders criticised the Congress, saying that holding a protest outside the Prime Minister’s residence sets a “troubling precedent”, adding that such protests raise serious security concerns.
Meanwhile, a day after the Delhi police cleared Jantar Mantar, the protesters continued to pour in. By evening, the crowds had swelled, spilling over to the roads radiating from the protest site.
VIDEO | Delhi: Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra being taken away in a police vehicle from the party's protest site outside the PM's residence.
(Full video available on PTI Videos - https://t.co/n147TvrpG7)#Delhipic.twitter.com/A8XDwmGf7m
Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office Jitender Singh and Home Secretary Govind Mohan were deputed as emissaries to negotiate with the Congress leadership and spoke to Mr. Gandhi. Dr. Singh accused Mr. Gandhi of shifting the “goalposts” and said that he was in the “mood for conflict”. The Minister alleged that Mr. Gandhi and other Congress leaders had initially said they would vacate the area if the government agreed to a detailed debate on the recent spate of paper leaks. However, they later added the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan as a non-negotiable demand, Dr. Singh said.
The Congress denied the Minister’s allegations, insisting that Mr. Gandhi had made four demands: the resignation of Mr. Pradhan; Delhi Police officials who “attacked” students to be held accountable and the Prime Minister to make a statement on Monday’s events; debate on the issue in Parliament; and dropping all charges against the protesters picked up by Delhi Police on Monday.
A meeting of the INDIA bloc ahead of Tuesday’s (July 21, 2026) sitting focused on Monday’s protest, with leaders considering several ways to pursue the issue. No decision was taken. Separately, Mr. Gandhi, Lok Sabha MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Congress general secretary K.C. Venugopal, and members of Mr. Gandhi’s core team decided on a calibrated strategy to steadily escalate the protest. Mr. Gandhi, accompanied by other leaders, met Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to demand a debate on the issue and later visited the injured students at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital.
According to sources, plans for the final march were kept under wraps until the last minute. All Congress MPs were asked to gather at Mr. Kharge’s residence at 10 Rajaji Marg for his 84th birthday at 3:00 p.m. for “cake cutting”. On reaching the Congress president’s residence, Mr. Gandhi informed the assembled MPs that they would march to the rear entrance of the Prime Minister’s residence, about 100 metres away. Without waiting for a response from them, he set off on foot, with the MPs following. Kerala Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan and Karnataka Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar were also asked to join the protest.
By 3.30 p.m., taking Delhi Police officials by surprise, a strong contingent of Congress leaders had gathered at the Prime Minister’s doorstep. The Congress then scaled up its demands. Mr. Gandhi demanded the resignations of both the Prime Minister and Home Minister Amit Shah for “destroying the future of India’s youth.”
At around 5 p.m., the government’s emissaries Dr. Singh and Mr. Mohan met Mr. Gandhi at the dharna. In a post on X a few minutes later, Mr. Gandhi pushed the stakes further by exhorting everyone who believes that the students “deserve justice” to join the Congress at the dharna in front of the Prime Minister’s Office. “PM Modi believes he can get away without answers, without consequences. He cannot. Not this time,” he said.
The crowd kept swelling, with Congress workers and additional police personnel adding to the numbers. The parliamentarians sat in a circle, cross-legged, raising slogans against both the Prime Minister and the Home Minister, as well as the Delhi Police. Mr. Gandhi and Mr. Kharge, among others, stood near the circle.
By 7 p.m., Delhi Police buses rolled into the area and began loading Congress workers into them, peeling away, layer by layer, the concentric circles of workers and parliamentarians around Mr. Gandhi.
Mr. Gandhi resisted arrest, lying flat on the road even as several policemen tugged at him. He kicked away the initial attempts to lift him. After several minutes of scuffling with the police, he was finally lifted and loaded into a bus.
Published - July 21, 2026 05:09 pm IST