India Protest Crackdown: Gandhi Demands Modi's Resignation

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India's main opposition leader Rahul Gandhi today demanded Prime Minister Narendra Modi's resignation over the police crackdown on student protests demanding education reforms in New Delhi. Gandhi led a march towards Modi's residence after police clashes injured 60 protesters Monday.

Gandhi, the leader of the opposition in the lower house of the Indian Parliament, said Modi must step down for 'destroying the future of India's youth.' This comes after police fired tear gas and charged at protesters with batons, leaving 118 police personnel also injured.

A series of examination scandals has shaken confidence in India's testing system. Last month, 2.2 million aspiring medical students sat for a re-examination under tight security following the leak of a question paper. The protests follow allegations of irregularities in the online marking of tests taken by nearly two million high school students.

The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), an online movement with millions of followers, has vowed to press on with its demands for Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan's removal. 'We won't stop. Pradhan has to be sacked,' CJP spokesman Ashutosh Ranka said on social media. Hundreds of protesters remained camped at Delhi's Jantar Mantar protest site.

Gandhi's comments came after parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju defended the government's actions, saying it had acted swiftly after the exam paper leaks by arresting several people. Modi has yet to comment directly on the protests. A police personnel fires tear gas shells to disperse activists and supporters of the CJP during a protest demanding the resignation of India's Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over alleged NEET examination irregularities.

'It's a shameful day in the history of Indian democracy that people, honest students, who had come for a genuine issue were brutally beaten by the Delhi police,' said CJP spokesman Ranka.

Parliament was adjourned on Tuesday after the opposition benches demanded a discussion on the alleged 'brutality unleashed on students.' Despite rapid economic growth, millions of people in the world's most populous nation still struggle to find stable and well-paying jobs, fuelling discontent.

'We have become even more fearless now,' said 25-year-old law student Chandra Pratap Sishwi. 'When I saw people being beaten up by the police like that, my blood boiled.' The protests follow a series of examination scandals that have shaken confidence in India's testing system.

The CJP has won millions of followers on social media since its launch in May, fuelling one of the biggest challenges to Hindu-nationalist leader Modi since he won his third term in office in 2024.

'Do not let them silence you,' urged CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke, perched on top of a lorry. The CJP vowed to press on with its demands for Pradhan's removal as hundreds of protesters remained camped at Delhi's Jantar Mantar protest site on Tuesday, many of them calling for changes to the wider education system.