The Delhi Police manhandled Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and forcibly removed them from the site of the Opposition protest outside the PM’s house in Delhi.
Several senior Opposition leaders joined the protest today, picketing outside the Prime Minister’s residence. Union minister Jitendra Singh met Rahul Gandhi at the Congress protest site, but the Congress continued with its protest.
Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were detained for a few hours after being picked up from the protest site; they were later released.
For a second day student protesters and Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) activists gathered at Jantar Mantar in central Delhi to protest against India’s education system in general and the NEET question paper leak in particular.
The protesters, led by the CJP, are demanding that the Centre take accountability for the NEET paper leak and the immediate resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. They also want compensation for families of NEET aspirants who died by suicide after the leak.
On Monday there was violence at the protest site in Jantar Mantar with students lathi-charged and tear-gassed; many were injured in the clashes, including Delhi Police personnel.
Also on Monday, for the first time, there were talks between CJP representatives and the government. CJP spokespersons called on Union minister J. P. Nadda and presented to him a memorandum listing out their demands.
Read the latest updates on ThePrint.
CJP protest | Rahul, Priyanka released after being detained
9.15 pm: Congress leaders walk out of stadium
Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra have walked out of the Chhatrasal Stadium in Delhi where they were held after being detained.
The Delhi Police asked all Congress leaders and workers to leave the north Delhi stadium, after picking them up some hours before from outside the PM’s residence where they were picketing.
CJP protest | Rahul, Priyanka detained by Delhi Police
7.30 pm: We are not scared of them, says Priyanka
Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were detained by the Delhi Police Tuesday while leading a protest near Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s official residence at Lok Kalyan Marg.
While being detained by the Delhi Police, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said, “They are cowards. They are scared. We are not scared of them. They are scared of us.”
Several Congress leaders and workers were also detained as police dispersed the demonstrators, who had marched from Rajaji Marg to Lok Kalyan Marg after police brutality against students protesting over the paper leak Monday.
CJP protest | Rahul, Akhilesh manhandled by Delhi Police
6.45 pm: Delhi Police remove Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav
The Delhi Police forcibly removed Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and SP chief Akhilesh Yadav from the site of the Opposition protest outside the PM’s house in Delhi after talks with the government failed to break the deadlock over the protest.
The Congress has also alleged that the police did not inform party leaders about where Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi were being taken after they were detained, triggering chaotic scenes at the protest site.
The detentions came after hours of confrontation outside 7, Lok Kalyan Marg, where the Congress leadership had announced an overnight dharna demanding accountability for the country’s education system, the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, and action against the alleged police violence during Monday’s CJP-led student march.
CJP protest | CJP hits out at AAP, backs Rahul
6.00 pm: CJP responds to AAP allegation of ‘fixed match’
Responding to AAP’s Sanjay Singh’s social media post alleging that the Congress was working with the BJP to get publicity, the Cockroach Janta Party posted: “Do not spread this false illusion and do not strike at the axe of the unity that exists in the country! Today, the Congress Seva Dal has prepared breakfast for the CJP movement participants; they are helping us! And from what Shri Rahul Gandhi ji has done, it is clear that the entire country is now putting pressure on the government.”
यह झूठा भ्रम मत फैलाएं और जो एकता देश में बनी हैं उसपर कुठाराघात न करें !
आज़ कांग्रेस सेवादल ने CJP आंदोलनकारियों के लिए नाश्ता तैयार किया हमारी मदद कर रहें हैं !
और श्री राहुल गांधी जी ने जो किया है उससे यह स्पष्ट है कि पुरा देश अब सरकार पर दबाव बना रहा है।
नेता विपक्ष… https://t.co/l2Ro34WJc3
— Cockroach Janta Party (@shah34516) July 21, 2026
CJP protest | Jitendra Singh at site of Congress protest
5.15 pm: Singh reaches site of protest, meets Rahul Gandhi
Union minister Jitendra Singh Tuesday evening arrived at the site of the Congress protest outside the residence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, where Rahul Gandhi and several other Congress leaders have been picketing.
Singh, who is a Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office, was seen briefly conversing with Rahul Gandhi.
Earlier, there were reports that Delhi Police had detained some Congress leaders from outside the PM’s residence.
CJP protest | Rahul, Kharge protest outside PM’s residence
3.45 pm: Congress MPs demand PM’s resignation
Congress leaders, including party President Mallikarjun Kharge, Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, K. C. Venugopal and Pawan Khera marched to the PM’s residence and are holding a protest at Lok Kalyan Marg, demanding the resignations of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
The protest came hours after both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha were adjourned for the day with the Opposition seeking discussion on the NEET-UG paper leak and other issues of education sector amid protest in the national capital.
Mallikarjun Kharge raised the issue of lathi-charge on protesters in Rajya Sabha on Monday and Tuesday.
In an X post, Rahul Gandhi said they have marched to PM Modi’s house “to demand answers from him for the brutalities against young students yesterday. The Government doesn’t want to take any accountability, or does it want to have a debate on it in Parliament. PM and HM must resign for destroying the future of India’s youth.”
CJP protest | Congress leaders meet protesters
2.45 pm: Rahul, Priyanka, Venugopal meet injured students
Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and K. C. Venugopal met student protesters who were injured in a police crackdown in the national capital, with the Congress demanding an apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi for what it called “brutality” against the country’s youth.
In a post on X, Congress said, “The future of students in the country is being trampled, and lathis are being rained down on those who raise their voices, for which Narendra Modi should apologise.”
The visit to the hospital comes after Rahul Gandhi spoke to reporters in the Parliament House complex where he said, “The issue is about students, about the future of the youth. And what is being done—people being beaten and thrashed—this is completely un-Indian. Modi ji has not even apologised for what happened yesterday.”
The comments from the Congress add to a broader wave of Opposition criticism, with leaders including Pawan Khera, Shashi Tharoor, Sanjay Raut, Bhupesh Baghel and Arvind Kejriwal also having spoken out against the police action over the past two days.
CJP protest | Kejriwal writes to Delhi DCP, seeks details of FIRs
3.00 pm: Demands release of protesters in custody
Aam Aadmi Party National Convenor and former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal Tuesday wrote to New Delhi Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Sachin Sharma, seeking details of FIRs registered and people detained following Monday’s CJP protest at Jantar Mantar, and also visited the Parliament Street Police Station.
In his letter addressed to Sachin Sharma, DCP, New Delhi District, Kejriwal sought the immediate release of details of people against whom FIRs have been registered and those who have been detained following the protest.
“I am given to understand that a number of FIRs have been registered against the people who were protesting at Jantar Mantar yesterday demanding accountability from Prime Minister Modi about failures in the education system,” Kejriwal said in the letter.
He further said, “I am also given to understand that a number of people have been held in custody after yesterday’s protest without any registration of FIRs.”
“I request that the above two lists be put in public domain immediately so that appropriate legal help can be provided to those people,” the AAP National Convenor said.
CJP protest | Wangchuk shifted to Medanta
1.00 pm: Delhi HC allows activist to be moved to private hospital
The Delhi High Court Tuesday allowed activist Sonam Wangchuk, who is on hunger strike in solidarity with the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) protest, to be shifted to a hospital of his choice.
A bench of Chief Justice D. K. Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia allowed this after hearing a plea by the activist’s wife, Gitanjali Angmo, against a Sunday order of the high court refusing to interfere with his ongoing treatment a central government hospital.
Representing the Centre, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said the government had no objection to Wangchuk being shifted to Medanta Hospital.
CJP protest | ‘If needed, I will join CJP protest’: Mamata Banerjee
12.05 pm: TMC chief calls for Opposition unity against BJP
Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee Tuesday said she would visit Delhi and join the protest by the CJP, if required, while calling for Opposition unity against the BJP.
Addressing the TMC’s Martyrs’ Day rally in Kolkata, Banerjee said, “We supported CJP from the beginning. If need be, I will visit Delhi and join their protest.”
“The time has come to be united under the umbrella of the INDIA Alliance against the BJP. I request all parties of the nation and the entire country, and in Bengal also,” she added.
She alleged that the BJP-led government had crossed the limits of authoritarianism. “People can see the BJP’s atrocities. They have already crossed Hitler & Stalin,” she said.
CJP protest | Nadda visits Lady Hardinge Hospital after RML
11.00 am: Nadda reviews medical care of injured protesters
Following his visit to Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) Hospital, Union Health Minister J. P. Nadda Tuesday reached Lady Hardinge Hospital in the national capital to interact with protesters injured during Monday’s police action.
Earlier in the day, Nadda visited RML Hospital to review the condition of those admitted and held a meeting with doctors regarding their medical care before proceeding to Lady Hardinge Hospital.
During his visit, the Union Minister held a meeting with doctors to review the medical care being provided and the condition of the injured.
Apart from Nadda, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, along with Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, also met the injured protesters at RML Hospital.
CJP protest | Delhi Police register 5 FIRs
10.00 am: FIRS against students for violence, stone-pelting, vandalism
After Monday’s clashes with CJP protesters, the Delhi Police have registered 5 FIRs in connection with the incidents and are probing the matter. The FIRs against the protesters are for alleged violence, stone-pelting and vandalism. The police are probing whether the violence was part of a pre-planned conspiracy.
The FIRs have been registered at the Parliament Street and Connaught Place police stations under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, the Arms Act, 1959, and the Prevention of Damage to Public Property (PDPP) Act.
The Delhi Police has examined more than 250 videos, including mobile phone clips, CCTV footage, drone footage and police body camera footage, to identify those involved in the alleged violence.
On Monday, the police released footage showing stone-pelting in the Connaught Place area. Police said miscreants allegedly vandalised police vehicles and pelted stones at a police team near Regal Cinema in the Outer Circle of Connaught Place. Further investigation into the incident is underway.
The police are also investigating whether WhatsApp or Telegram groups were created to mobilise people before the violence occurred in New Delhi.
BJP looting Ram Mandir is fine, but youth fighting for a fair future is anti national? Hypocrisy! Looks like the government has taken us for fools. Religion and empty nationalism isn’t paying our bills or gives us jobs (if there are any at all). Pradhan is uneducated!