Congress Leads Nationwide Protests Over NEET Scam and Detentions

The Indian National Congress organized nationwide protests on July 22, 2026, demanding the resignations of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. The demonstrations were triggered by a NEET exam scam and police action against students and Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) activists during a 'Sansad Chalo' protest on July 20.

In New Delhi, police detained Lok Sabha Opposition Leader Rahul Gandhi, MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav during a protest at Lok Kalyan Marg near the Prime Minister's residence. The leaders were later released from Chhatrasal Stadium and Mandir Marg Police Station. Parallelly, opposition MPs staged a black-clothing protest on the Parliament premises to voice grievances. Similar demonstrations occurred in Bhopal, Thiruvananthapuram, Guwahati, Jabalpur, and Bhubaneswar, with Madhya Pradesh State Congress President Jitu Patwari being detained in Bhopal.

Political tensions escalated as former Delhi Chief Minister Atishi alleged a collusion between Rahul Gandhi and the government, claiming the administration ignored student protests at Jantar Mantar for a month but engaged with Congress immediately. Congress MP Jothimani S. dismissed these claims as petty politics, asserting that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has broken the country's systems through widespread paper leaks. Conversely, BJP spokesperson Narayanan Thirupathy defended police actions, labeling the protests a conspiracy by the opposition and CJP to destabilize the country and disrupt the Monsoon Session of Parliament.