The dramatic turn of events outside Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s residence on Tuesday saw top Congress leadership staging a sit-in dharna and subsequent outreach by the government, as Minister of State (MoS) in the PMO Dr. Jitendra Singh reached the protest site to hold talks and address their grievances, purportedly pertaining to paper leaks and police crackdown on protesting students.
As the visuals relayed on TV channels from the Prime Minister’s residence, it showed LoP Rahul Gandhi along with scores of leaders sitting on dharna while Dr Jitendra Singh, purportedly in his capacity as the ‘representative’ of the government, reaching among them to lend an ear to their demands.
The unprecedented development, said political watchers, was a tactful attempt by the government to open channels of communication with the protesting groups. Congress, having taken strong exception to police crackdown on students on Monday, has been demanding that the government apologise for being “insincere and insensitive” to the students’ cause.
This protest march to the PM’s residence comes a day after Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) undertook ‘Chalo Sansad’ protest and Samajwadi Party (SP) MPs also undertook a foot march from Parliament to Jantar Mantar, demanding the government’s accountability on paper leaks.
Among the prominent Congress faces staging a sit-in outside the PM’s residence were Priyanka Gandhi, KC Venugopal, Jairam Ramesh, DK Shivakumar and many more. Earlier in the day, the Gandhi siblings, along with several Congress leaders, had gathered outside party president Mallikarjun Kharge's house at 10, Rajaji Marg and from there, they started a march to the PM's residence at 7, Lok Kalyan Marg, about a kilometre away.
Stepping up the heat on the government, they demanded answers as to why no one was held accountable over NEET paper leaks till date, asking why the government was bent on crushing the voice of students instead of paying heed to their demands.
Earlier, the Lok Sabha proceedings were also disrupted, eventually leading to adjournment for the day as the grand old party questioned police crackdown on the students and demanded urgent debate over lathi charge and tear-gas shelling on them.