LIVE: Fresh police crackdown on Jantar Mantar protesters; tear gas fired, internet cut off

Wrestler Bajrang Punia visits Jantar Mantar. “...Today, students are only demanding transparency. They want the examinations and the entire education system to function transparently. Players demanded the removal of one person for misbehaving with girls. Farmers demanded MSP for their crops. But what do we get? Batons. People from our own families serving in the police and security forces are being made to fight us while the government sits comfortably. After 20 days, they remembered they should talk to the students, just as they remembered to talk to us after 40 days. They won’t find any solution through talks...”

More than 100 people, mostly youngsters, were detained in Ahmedabad on Wednesday evening for protesting without police permission outside the Gujarat University demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

A large crowd of youngsters, including a significant number of college students, gathered outside the Gujarat University and raised slogans against the Central government. Some of them carried banners captioned: “System failed, not students” and “Largest democracy?” Some students were seen distributing flowers to police personnel.

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan is likely to remain in the Cabinet, as the top hierarchy of the government is convinced that he cannot be blamed for the leak of the examination papers, news agency PTI has reported citing a senior government functionary in the know.

The government is reportedly also ready for serious engagement with the protesters led by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) and suggested that no one should be rigid about the “venue” of the meeting as insisted by CJP.

After Union Health Minister JP Nadda held a meeting with two representatives of the CJP on Monday, there have reportedly been a series of meetings involving Home Minister Amit Shah, Nadda, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, and Pradhan, among others.

From the government side, feelers have reportedly been sent to the CJP for another meeting on the demands of the outfit.

The CJP has demanded that Pradhan should be immediately sacked, and Rs 1 crore compensation should be given to the families of those who committed suicide after the NEET paper leak.

“There is no question of resignation by the education minister. That question does not arise at all. You can’t blame the minister for the NEET paper leak as he was not personally involved,” the senior functionary told PTI and cited the successful conduct of the re-test.

The government is, however, ready to favourably consider the demand for compensation for the families of those who committed suicide after the NEET paper leak.

The government is also prepared for a detailed discussion on the NEET paper leak issue in Parliament, where it believes it can give an elaborate response to the protests and the action taken by it after the paper leak and “how successfully the re-examination of the medical entrance examination was held”.

“If needed, we are ready for discussions even for two days or three days—whatever time is required. But unrealistic demands of the opposition cannot be met,” the functionary told PTI.

Congress MP and the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi held a press conference at the AICC headquarters in New Delhi on Wednesday (July 22), demanding the immediate resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the massive NEET and testing paper leak row.

Rahul highlighted that a staggering 152 paper leaks have occurred over the past decade, directly impacting 7.5 crore middle-class families, with virtually zero convictions. The Congress leader said the testing system has been “hollowed out by termites” and condemned the severe crackdown by the Delhi Police on the protesters on July 20.

In this episode of Capital beat, panelists discuss about the political messaging behind Rahul Gandhi's remarks and what they could mean for the Opposition's strategy going forward.