Rahul backs protesting students, seeks Pradhans resignation

new delhi: congress leader rahul gandhi on wednesday accused the modi government of damaging the country's education system and extended full support to students protesting over examination irregularities, saying their demands, including the resignation of union education minister dharmendra pradhan, were legitimate.addressing a press conference at the aicc headquarters, gandhi alleged that students protesting over the neet issue were being unfairly targeted despite demanding a fair and transparent examination system."the protesting students are not terrorists. they are simply asking for an education system that works and is fair," he said.a video showing the alleged use of force against students during monday's 'sansad chalo' protest was played before the press conference.referring to the police action, gandhi questioned why security personnel were used against students protesting peacefully and said many young people were under immense stress due to repeated examination controversies.he alleged that india's education system had become "rigged" and claimed that 152 examination paper leaks had occurred over the past decade, affecting nearly 7.5 crore students.gandhi also alleged that despite repeated paper leak incidents, there had been no convictions and accused the government of failing to ensure accountability.claiming that families spend around rs 1.32 lakh crore annually on education, nearly matching the union education budget, he said students were burdened by rising costs while also facing uncertainty due to examination irregularities.the leader of opposition in the lok sabha said the congress fully supported the students' demands, including the resignation of pradhan, action against those responsible for the alleged assault on protesters and an apology from prime minister narendra modi.his remarks came a day after he, along with congress leader priyanka gandhi vadra and samajwadi party chief akhilesh yadav, was detained by delhi police following a sit-in outside the prime minister's residence over the neet issue. the leaders were later released.