Rahul Gandhi Accuses RSS of Controlling India's Education Ministry

Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi sparked a major confrontation in the Lok Sabha on July 29, 2026, during a debate on the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026. Gandhi alleged that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has captured the soul of the education system and effectively controls the Ministry of Education. He described the resignation of former Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan as superficial, claiming Pradhan was merely a symbol while the RSS ran the ministry.

Further escalating the session, Gandhi accused Home Minister Amit Shah of ordering the use of pellet guns and firing against students protesting examination irregularities during a July 20 march. Police records from the Parliament Street police station later confirmed that pellet guns were used during the crackdown on the Cockroach Janta Party protest. Gandhi also targeted current Education Minister Pralhad Joshi, calling him a defender of rapists.

Government ministers, including Kiren Rijiju and Piyush Goyal, dismissed these claims as baseless. Rijiju and Speaker Om Birla condemned Gandhi's use of terms like idiots and andhbhakts as unparliamentary. Simultaneously, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra faced demands for expulsion from Minister Pralhad Joshi after she raised concerns about exam malpractices and NTA reforms. The BJP labeled her remarks a toxic rant, while Congress MPs Sukhdeo Bhagat and Pawan Khera defended her, arguing the government must be held accountable for its excesses against youth.