New Delhi:
The Opposition’s protests have intensified in the heart of Delhi over exam paper leaks. Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and Congress and INDIA bloc MPs staged a demonstration at Gandhi Smriti on Tees January Marg in support of the students over the NEET paper leak.
Gandhi was seen in his iconic white t-shirt holding the national flag and the Constitution, while other MPs held up their mobile flashlights as a symbolic candlelight vigil.
Barricades were earlier set up outside Gandhi’s house after the Opposition MPs reached there for a meeting this afternoon. Soon after the meeting ended, the Congress leader announced their plan to visit Gandhi Smriti, less than a kilometre away. Three buses then carrying Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and other lawmakers reached Gandhi Smriti.
“We came here symbolically to take the pledge that we will stand with students and for the right cause,” Congress leader KC Venugopal told news agency ANI.
‘Peacefully Heading To Gandhi Smriti’
Rahul Gandhi had earlier said that their Gandhi Smriti visit was to remember the students who were driven to take their own lives after the NEET paper leak injured in the protests.
“Right now, MPs and leaders of the INDIA alliance are peacefully heading to Gandhi Smriti on Tees January Marg. We go to remember the students we lost – the children driven to take their own lives after the NEET paper leak. We go to stand with the students who lie injured today – beaten for peacefully demanding justice and accountability,” he said.
In his post, Gandhi said India’s students are not alone and that the entire Opposition stands with them and their demands.
No one can stop us from standing with the students of India.
भारत के छात्रों के साथ खड़े होने से हमें कोई नहीं रोक सकता। pic.twitter.com/ALypCpklbX
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) July 23, 2026
He later told reporters that their initial plan to visit India Gate was turned down by the police, and then their bus was initially blocked from leaving for Gandhi Smriti but was later allowed. “No one can stop us from standing with the students of India,” he wrote in a post alongside a video of himself from inside one of the buses.
The Congress had been demanding, among other things, the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, with the Gandhi siblings being detained during a demonstration outside Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s residence two days ago.
Before boarding the bus, Congress MP Kumari Selja told NDTV that they stick to their demands.
A separate demonstration is underway at Jantar Mantar led by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) over the paper leak issue. The government has suspended mobile internet within a 1.5-km radius of the protest site until midnight.
