Congress leader and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Friday intensified his attack on the Centre over the ongoing NEET-UG 2026 controversy, alleging that security forces used pellet guns against students during the Cockroach Janta Party’s (CJP) “Chalo Sansad” march earlier this week. Calling the government’s denial misleading, he demanded an apology to the country’s youth and once again sought the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
Addressing a press conference in New Delhi alongside a 19-year-old who claimed to have been injured during the protest, Gandhi alleged that peaceful demonstrators were subjected to excessive force despite protesting against the alleged examination paper leak.
“The government said pellet guns were not used, but it is a lie. They are the future of India, but pellet guns were used against the students and they were lathi-charged. They were just doing a peaceful protest against the (NEET) paper leak. This has happened to lakhs of people. The government should stop lying,” Gandhi said.
He also launched a direct attack on the Education Minister, saying, “Dharmendra Pradhan is a criminal education minister. He has to be removed. He is a symbol of the collapse of our education system. He has to go. He is the reason why thousands of people are outside. He has to go.”
The allegations come after several reports and individuals claimed pellet guns were used during the clashes between protesters and police on July 20. However, Delhi Police has categorically denied those claims, stating that it does not possess pellet guns and that no such weapons were deployed during the operation. The force has also appealed to the public not to circulate unverified or misleading information regarding the incident.
Meanwhile, efforts to resolve the deadlock between the Centre and the CJP continued on Friday as representatives of both sides held another round of discussions. According to CJP leaders Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das, the government has sought time until Saturday to respond to the group’s demand for Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation after receiving a written memorandum outlining its demands.
Union Minister JP Nadda, who represented the government in the talks along with Jitendra Singh, described the discussions as cordial and confirmed that another meeting between the two sides is scheduled for Saturday afternoon as negotiations continue over the student movement and the NEET-UG paper leak issue.
