Rahul Gandhi Demands Accountability Over Crackdown On Students, BJP Hits Back

Congress's Rahul Gandhi today demanded accountability for the police crackdown on students in remarks that the BJP has scoffed at. Accusing the police of using brutality at the protesters, he questioned where the police got the idea from. He has also refused to apologise for his speech in parliament, parts of which has been expunged from the records. 

The BJP has doubled down on its demand that Gandhi apologise. "Let me clearly state the Bharatiya Janata Party's position on Rahul Gandhi and the statement he made in the House: Rahul Gandhi must apologize," said the BJP's Sambit Patra in a separate press conference. 

"He says he would never apologise to any BJP leader, but just a few days ago he apologized to Shivraj Singh Chouhan. Everyone knows that he has also apologised in court in the past," Patra added.

Gandhi said the protesting students were fired at with pellet guns. "One boy who was shot with a pellet gun is most likely to lose his eye and may not be able to see. I have seen the AIIMS medical certificate... Shock batons were used, not just normal lathis, lathis with nails. Where did the police get this idea from?" he questioned.

"To me, the most important issue today by far is the following: the issue where our students, people who are open-minded and ask questions, were brutalised on the streets of Delhi," said the Leader of the Opposition.

Speaking at a press conference at 6 pm, he said he has not been allowed to speak in parliament.

"The Leader of Opposition (himself) is not allowed to speak in the Lok Sabha. Multiple times, I asked the speaker to bring order to the house so that I could speak... but I was not allowed... The excuse was that I said something about Amit Shah, that he was responsible for the brutality that was carried out... I was given an assurance that if I apologize, I will be allowed to speak. I will never apologise to the BJP, RSS or any other person associated with them," he added.

In his address in parliament, Gandhi had alleged that the police were taking their orders from the Union Home Minister. 

Later, speaking to reporters within the Parliament premises, Gandhi said: "I have only said that there can be only two possibilities. One possibility is that the Home Minister gave the order. The second possibility is that the Home Minister did not know. In the first case, he is culpable. In the second case, he is incompetent. It can only be one of the two; there cannot be a third possibility."

Questioning why the minister skipped parliament, he said "If he has not done anything, then he should issue a clarification that he had not passed any order".

Rebutting Gandhi's comments, Sambit Patra said, "Rahul Gandhi said the police comes under the Home Minister. However he is not responsible for giving these orders... I'm again repeating that during tense times, the SDM (Sub-Divisional Magistrate) is responsible for taking calls on spot".

Rahul Gandhi, he added, is "misleading the public again".

"If 45 members were allowed to speak in the House, there was no reason to stop him... He was given full opportunity, but he simply could not make his point," Patra said.