Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders on Tuesday accused the Congress of “playing along” with the BJP, alleging that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government engaged swiftly with the Rahul Gandhi-led protest near his official residence even as it stonewalled Sonam Wangchuk and the Cockroach Janta Party's (CJP) agitations at Jantar Mantar for weeks.
AAP MP Sanjay Singh, in a post on X, alleged that Modi had got Rahul Gandhi to sit in protest “to weaken the CJP’s movement”. Delhi Assembly Leader of Opposition and AAP leader Atishi said that while the government had refused to talk to the CJP and Wangchuk, it began “dialogue with the Congress within an hour of Rahul Gandhi's demonstration”.
In a separate post, she said the same Delhi Police that stopped CJP protesters from “moving even 100 metres” towards Parliament during Monday's march “let Gandhi reach the Prime Minister’s residence”. She called it evidence that the “Congress-BJP is one unit”.
Union Minister of State in the PMO Jitendra Singh reached Rahul Gandhi's dharna site and briefly spoke with him in a rare, swift government outreach to an unprecedented protest by the current Opposition. Jitendra Singh later said the government was ready to discuss all NEET-related issues in Parliament, while adding that Gandhi’s conduct in staging the dharna did not align with democratic principles.
The Congress has stayed largely silent on the CJP, founded by an ex-AAP social media strategist Abhijeet Dipke, for over two weeks. Dipke and others in the CJP have in the past criticised the Congress and Rahul, and have largely avoided amplifying support from or to the Congress on the common demand for Pradhan’s resignation. Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi did not visit Wangchuk through the length of his fast, which drew jibes from Wangchuk himself and a rebuttal from Gujarat Congress leader Jignesh Mevani, even as Gandhi ran a parallel campaign, “Chhatron Ki Goonj”, on the same paper-leak and NEET grievances.
Eventually, Congress MP and spokesman Pawan Khera visited Jantar Mantar on July 17 to meet Wangchuk, marking the party’s first visible official participation in the protest. Khera’s visit followed similar visits by Kejriwal and Samajwadi Party's Dimple Yadav a day earlier, and came after questions were raised over Congress's absence despite backing from other Opposition leaders and civil society figures.
Meanwhile, the Delhi Police registered FIRs at the Parliament Street and Connaught Place police stations over Monday’s violence, invoking charges including rioting, vandalism and obstructing government employees, and said around 70 protesters were detained. In a statement, the police said protesters had displayed “unruly, aggressive and violent behaviour”. They said that around 60 protesters were also injured in the clashes, and that they were examining video and CCTV footage to identify those involved in stone-pelting and vandalism near Connaught Place.
Follow us
