Modi is India’s most ‘anti-youth PM’, says Rahul Gandhi

The Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Monday (July 20, 2026) accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of being “the most anti-youth Prime Minister India has ever had” while backing the students’ demands related to recurring examination paper leaks as “legitimate”.

The Congress, while condemning the police action against protesters attempting to march to Parliament on the opening day of the monsoon session, also sought to underline that it had been raising the issue of paper leaks long before the present agitation led by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP).

In a video message, Mr. Gandhi stressed that the Congress had been raising the issue “not for weeks or months, but for years”.

“The country has a majority of young people. Prime Minister Modi is the most anti-youth PM India has ever had. The boys and girls who are walking the streets of Delhi are not criminals. They are demanding their rights,” Mr. Gandhi said.

The Opposition leader said it is the right of a student to have “an education system that respects them, that is fair and that is working”.

“There’s absolutely nothing wrong in what they are doing. And it is disgusting what the government is doing and what the police is doing,” he said.

“Tear-gassing students, lathi-charging students is not democratic. It is not India’s way… They have legitimate demands. The Prime Minister should accept these demands and do something about it,” Mr. Gandhi said.

In a post he made later on social media platform X, the Opposition leader, addressing police officers and government employees, said the right to protest is an inviolable fundamental right. “Power does not last forever. Accountability will certainly be enforced,” he said.

Those responsible for leaking examination papers continued to go free while students raising “valid issues” were being beaten and detained, he said.

“This government is not just failing the youth — it is pouncing on them,” he said.

The Congress leader claimed that “everybody is sick and tired of how the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) has captured our education system”.

Also read | CJP protest in Delhi updates on July 20

In a post on X, the Opposition leader claimed there had been 152 paper leaks affecting 7.5 crore students, and questioned why Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan remained in office.

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra reiterated that the party had consistently demanded a discussion on paper leaks and the education system.

“It is ridiculous. They are our own children. They are the future of the country. This Parliament belongs to them. It is no one’s personal fiefdom,” Ms. Vadra told reporters in the Parliament complex.

“The paper leak is a genuine issue. Rahul-ji has been raising it for quite some time. We have been saying there should be a discussion as there are problems in the education policy. You are not ready to discuss and fire tear gas at children and beat them up. For what? They are our children,” Ms. Vadra said.

The Congress’s calibrated response is an attempt to reclaim the space the CJP appears to have carved out among youth in recent days, with activist Sonam Wangchuk emerging as the face of the protest.