Rahul Gandhi Went Back On His Word After His Demand Was Accepted: Minister

New Delhi:

Giving details of the conversation between him and Rahul Gandhi at Congress’ protest outside Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s house, Union Minister Jitendra Singh alleged the Leader of the Opposition went back on his word and added another demand when the Centre agreed to the first one.  

Singh, who is the Minister of State in the PMO, went to the site about an hour after the protest began and met Gandhi. The two leaders were seen speaking for a few minutes and, after the minister left, Congress MPs said the talks were inconclusive and the party’s demands were not met. 

Describing what happened at the meeting, Singh said in a post on X that the government had sent him and Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan to talk to the protesters because the demonstration was being led by senior leaders like Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi. 

The minister said he spoke to Rahul Gandhi, who told him the sit-in would be called off if the government agreed to discuss the NEET and other paper leaks and the protests around them in Parliament. 

“Within a few moments, after taking permission from the government’s top leadership, Rahul Gandhi was assured that his demand has been accepted, and the government is ready to discuss in Parliament all issues related to NEET and the associated movement,” Singh wrote.

The minister said the Centre was prepared to discuss every issue relating to the examination and the movement connected with it inside Parliament.

‘Demands Have Changed’

Singh alleged that after being informed that the government had accepted the proposal for a parliamentary discussion, Gandhi introduced another condition.

According to Singh, Gandhi then insisted that Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan should resign.

“When this information was conveyed to Shri Rahul Gandhi, he said that he would not agree to this alone but also sought assurance for the resignation of the Union Education Minister,” Singh said.

He added that Gandhi then told him he now had two demands – a discussion in Parliament and the resignation of the education minister.

Singh said he reminded Gandhi that only moments earlier he had demanded a parliamentary debate.

According to the minister, Gandhi responded by saying that his demands had now changed.

“When he was reminded that earlier he had only demanded discussion, he said that now my demands have changed,” Singh said.

‘It Is My Prerogative’

The minister further alleged that when he attempted to persuade Gandhi not to alter his position so quickly, the Congress leader dismissed the objection.

“When an attempt was made to humbly explain to him that for a senior leader like him to backtrack from his word so quickly does not befit him, he said that it is his prerogative,” Singh said.

He also claimed that Home Secretary Govind Mohan informed Gandhi that the location was not appropriate for a sit-in protest.

According to Singh, Gandhi replied that it was “his prerogative to sit wherever he wants.”