Protesters climb over barricades during the Rajasthan BJP President Madan Rathore-led protest march from the BJP State office to the Congress party headquarters, in Jaipur on Wednesday (July 22, 2026).
| Photo Credit: ANI
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the Opposition Congress staged massive competing protests against each other here on Wednesday (July 22, 2026), trying to lay siege to the rival party headquarters with the conflicting claims about the ongoing events in New Delhi. There was a heavy police deployment on roads for stopping the marches of the two parties.
The BJP organised a march to lay siege to the Pradesh Congress Committee headquarters on Sansar Chandra Road, alleging that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had violated constitutional decorum during the Opposition’s protest outside the Prime Minister’s residence in New Delhi.
Police stopped the march, led by BJP state president Madan Rathore, by putting up barricades and used water cannons to disperse the party workers when they tried to move forward and got into a scuffle with the security personnel. Mr. Rathore criticised Congress’s political demonstrations and said the people would not tolerate Mr. Gandhi’s “undignified conduct”.
On the other hand, the Congress leaders dismissed the BJP’s march as an “audacity despite being in the wrong” and announced a counter-march to lay siege to the BJP’s State headquarters on Sardar Patel Marg. The Congress’s protest in the evening heightened political tensions in the State Capital.
Former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, PCC president Govind Singh Dotasra, Leader of Opposition Tika Ram Jully and former Minister Pratap Singh Khachariyawas participated in the march. The protesters raised slogans demanding Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation over the NEET-UG paper leak issue and in protest against “brutality” meted out to Mr. Gandhi and the students in New Delhi.
The police stopped the Congress party workers near the Police Commissionerate, where a scuffle broke out and the water cannons were used to disperse the protesters. A few party workers, injured in the police action, were taken to the hospital for primary aid, while traffic on the major city roads was disrupted during both the marches.
The police intensified security arrangements across the city and took measures to prevent workers from the two parties from coming face-to-face for a direct confrontation. Heavy barricades were put in place around the party offices and drone surveillance was used to monitor sensitive areas as well as traffic diversions.
Published – July 23, 2026 07:25 am IST
