Rahul Gandhi, Opposition MPs Leave For Gandhi Smriti To "Support" Students

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 have reached the Gandhi Smriti on Tees January Marg to remember the students who had lost their lives after the NEET paper leak and were injured during protests.

Clad in his iconic white t-shirt and holding the national flag and the Constitution, he held a vigil at the Gandhi Smriti, as other MPs turned on their mobile flashlights as a symbolic candle 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 and other lawmakers reached Gandhi Smriti.

"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.

He later told reporters that their initial plan to visit India Gate was turned down by the police, and then their bus was also blocked from leaving his premises 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 1.5-km radius of the protest site.