Rahul Gandhi Brings Injured Protestor Forward, Calls for Education Minister's Ouster
New Delhi: Congress MP and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Friday renewed his demand for the removal of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, accusing him of being responsible for the alleged NEET paper leak and the resulting crisis in the education system. Addressing a press conference, Gandhi also urged the central government to take action against those responsible for police action on protesting students and called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to apologise to affected youth.
The remarks came after the Centre held talks with representatives of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), which has been leading protests over the alleged paper leak, and assured them that their demands would be considered. The government also recently announced the setting up of fast-track courts to deal with paper leak cases.
Calling for the education minister's dismissal, Gandhi said: "Dharmendra Pradhan is a criminal education minister. He has to be removed. He is a symbol of the collapse of our education system. He has to go. He is the reason why thousands of people are outside."
The Congress MP listed three demands: the sack of the education minister, action against those who allegedly used pellet guns and carried out lathi-charge against protesters, and an apology from Prime Minister Modi to the youths who suffered due to examination irregularities. He presented a young man whom he claimed had suffered pellet gun injuries during a recent protest at Jantar Mantar.
"Many of them have sustained serious physical injuries. I cannot even say with certainty whether this young person's eyesight can be saved. None of this is their fault," Gandhi said. He alleged that the government had falsely denied the use of pellet guns against protesters, stating that the young man beside him was injured while peacefully protesting.
Government officials earlier denied using pellet guns during the protests. The victim, who wished to remain anonymous, said he had taken a police recruitment exam but the paper was leaked.
The Centre has scheduled further talks with the CJP to address the ongoing protests.
