Congress, CJP protests highlights: ‘Owe our students more than outrage’, says Pradhan amid resignation demand chorus

Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan hits back at Congress party over protests outside PM's house

Congress, CJP protests highlights: Amid the ongoing CJP protest at Jantar Mantar, the Congress party on Tuesday also staged a protest near the residence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking resignation of education minister Dharmendra Pradhan. Following repeated requests from the police and assurance by MOS Jitrendra Singh that the matter of students protest will be taken by the Parliament, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and other leaders refused to leave the site. The police forcibly removed the leaders and detained them.

The crowd at Jantar Mantar started swelling on Tuesday again as protesters arrived at the site. Following this, the Delhi Police announced that Section 163 is still in place and people should not crowd around the site.

A day after the Cockroach Janta Party's ‘Chalo Sansad’ march to Parliament, the outfit's founder Abhijeet Dipke visited the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital and met with the students who were injured in the protest on Monday. In a post on X, Dipke said a girl “is in a critical condition after being injured during the brutal lathi-charge.”

Police personnel on Monday used lathi-charge and tear gas shells, with the CJP alleging brutality and accusing the security personnel of “attacking” a truck which was carrying Dipke, activist Sonam Wangchuk's wife Gitanjali J Angmo, and actors Shabana Azmi and Prakash Raj. Around 50,000 protesters had taken to the streets on Monday to demand the resignation of union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

The protest march, which began in a peaceful manner with protesters carrying flowers for police personnel, saw the main protest stage being dismantled by the cops by late afternoon and protesters being cleared from Jantar Mantar. As the crowd at the protest site swelled, students began climbing the iron barricades to cross over and continue their peaceful march. Security forces then reacted with lathi-charge, which continued throughout the day. Several protesters were injured during the march, with some seen severely bleeding from their heads.

The Delhi Police, meanwhile, accused protesters of displaying “unruly, aggressive and violent behaviour” during the march and accused them of attacking security personnel, damaging government vehicles and public property. Cops said more than 118 police personnel were injured on Monday, claiming that the protesters had refused to disperse and “and deliberately violated the prohibitory orders in force.”

CJP members meet JP Nadda

Amid the protest march on Monday, CJP said the government had contacted the outfit for dialogue, following which its spokespersons Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das met union minister JP Nadda.

Nadda, during the meeting, assured the CJP that the government p will hold internal discussions on their demands. "The only assurance we got is that he will talk to the leadership and share the conclusions," Ranka told PTI news agency. The CJP spokespersons met Nadda twice in two hours at the minister's residence and submitted a memorandum citing their demands, including Pradhan's resignation.

However, Ranka told HT late on Monday that “the meeting turned out to be useless”, adding that the CJP had received no response from the government thereafter. “Next time, we will not talk to them till they come to the protest site. If they do not value our time, we also don't value theirs,” Ranka said.

Security remains, protesters return to Jantar Mantar

Late on Monday, the security remained tight as 40-50 security personnel were still seen standing on the footpaths around the C-Hexagon, especially near the Kartavya Path starting point that was found completely barricaded.

Further on the Ashoka Road and Raisina Road, security personnel’s presence was seen around the Press Club of India, outside the Central Secretariat Metro station, and on the footpaths outside the Rail Bhawan and Shastri Bhawan. The roads leading to the Parliament were all barricaded. Anti-riot vehicles, police buses and other four-wheelers and two-wheelers were found stationed on roads.

Meanwhile, protesters returned to the stage which was dismantled by Delhi police, with CJP's Ranka saying they would stay there till their demands were met.

Wangchuk's health remains stable

Meanwhile, activist Sonam Wangchuk remained at the Vardhman Mahavir Medical College (VMMC) and Safdarjung Hospital, with doctors saying his condition was stable. According to the health bulletin released on Monday, his vital parameters are within a stable range, while the blood parameters are on the lower side.

A multidisciplinary team of specialists from the hospital and AIIMS New Delhi is closely monitoring his health, the bulletin said. Doctors said continued clinical observation is necessary to support his recovery from mild to moderate dehydration and to detect any potential complications at an early stage. The activist had on Monday appealed for a discharge from the hospital to join the protest march, and claimed he was being kept in an “illegal detention”.