Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi
New Delhi, Jul 25: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday reiterated his support for students protesting over the alleged NEET paper leak, asserting that their three key demands were "non-negotiable" and insisting that Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan must be removed from office.
Speaking to reporters after meeting a group of protesting students at his residence in New Delhi, Gandhi said Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as the head of the government, should apologise to the students.
Describing the students as the country's future, Gandhi said, "The Prime Minister is the past, and the past can never fight the future."
Renewing his attack on the Union education minister, Gandhi termed Pradhan a "symbol of the destruction of valuable students" and alleged that he was "corrupt, incompetent and misaligned."
"There are three non-negotiable demands of the students. Dharmendra Pradhan has to be sacked," Gandhi said.
He also claimed there was speculation within the government about shifting Pradhan to another ministry but said such a move would not satisfy the protesting students.
Gandhi said he had assured the students that they should not fear pressure from the Centre and that their protest at Jantar Mantar would continue.
"I told the students not to worry. No amount of strength can move them from there. They can shut down the internet and intimidate them, but the students will not leave," he said.
The remarks come amid ongoing protests in the national capital led by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), which is demanding reforms in the examination system and the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan over the alleged NEET paper leak.
The CJP has maintained that its three demands — the removal of the Union education minister, Rs 1 crore compensation to the families of NEET-UG victims, and no legal action against protesters — are non-negotiable.
Union ministers J P Nadda and Jitendra Singh, who met a CJP delegation on Friday, said the government's response to the demands would be conveyed on Saturday.