'Dharmendra Pradhan has to be sacked': Rahul Gandhi backs students' three demands

New Delhi: Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Friday backed the ongoing student protests over the alleged NEET paper leak, saying their three core demands were "not negotiable" and insisting that Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan must be dismissed rather than shifted to another ministry.

Addressing reporters, Gandhi alleged that there were discussions within the government about moving Pradhan to a different portfolio but said such a move would not be acceptable.

"...Students have three demands, and these are not negotiable demands... The first demand is that the Education Minister, who is corrupt, incompetent, and misaligned, has to be sacked... There's some talk going on in Mr. Modi's cabinet that the solution is to move Dharmendra Pradhan from education to some other ministry. This is not acceptable to the students of India. It is not acceptable to anybody. The reason is that Pradhan is a symbol of corruption and of what has happened to the future of India's children. He is a symbol of the destruction of the most valuable thing that this country has, which is our students and their future. And so there is going to be no conversation about Mr. Dharmendra Pradhan being moved here, moved there, put behind, forward, nothing. Dharmendra Pradhan has to be sacked."

Gandhi also demanded accountability for the alleged use of force against protesting students, claiming that many had suffered serious injuries during demonstrations.

"Second... this young lady is injured. Yesterday I showed you a young man who has been shot in the eye, and there are thousands and thousands of youngsters who have had lathis break their legs, lathis break their heads, pellets in their bodies. The people who have done this, the organisers and the implementers, need to be punished and made accountable."

He further said Prime Minister Narendra Modi should apologise to students over the handling of the protests.

"And the third thing is the leader of this entire machinery that is doing this, PM Narendra Modi, has to apologise for what he has done to the students and the future of this country..."

The remarks come amid continuing nationwide protests over the alleged NEET paper leak, with demonstrators demanding accountability, reforms to the examination system and the resignation of the Union education minister.