Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi speaks in the House during the Monsoon session of Parliament in New Delhi on July 29, 2026.
| Photo Credit: Sansad TV via PTI
Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday (July 29, 2026) launched a scathing attack on the government in the Lok Sabha over the students’ protest in the capital last week, drawing sharp rebuttals from the ruling NDA.
Also read: Parliament Monsoon Session Day 8 highlights on July 29, 2026
Mr. Gandhi could not complete his speech amid protests and objections from the Treasury benches, even as a substantial part of the address was expunged from the records.
“Three categories of people”
Participating in the debate on The Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill-2026, he began by taking an indirect dig at the BJP and its core supporters by referring to three categories of people— students, those who think they know everything and pretend to be God, and “andhbhakts” (blind believers) who believe the second category is God.
The Treasury benches erupted in protest over the remarks, and as the uproar continued, Mr. Gandhi claimed that he was not being allowed to speak.
He said that Dharmendra Pradhan, who had to resign as the Union Education Minister, was just a symbol and the Education Ministry was actually being run by the RSS.
At this, both Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh stood up and said that the Leader of the Opposition had the responsibility of not using unparliamentary words and should continue with his speech.
RSS targeted
As he got up to speak again, Mr. Gandhi targeted the RSS, alleging that it was influencing the education system and shaping what students were taught. “The soul of the system has been captured by the RSS. Dharmendra Pradhan never ran the Education Ministry. The man and organisation that run the Ministry is called the RSS,” he said.
He also alleged that all universities in the country have vice-chancellors affiliated with the RSS.
As the protests from the ruling side continued, Mr. Gandhi then trained his guns on the Union Home Minister Amit Shah, claiming that he was not present in the Lok Sabha because he was “scared”.
The Congress leader made certain allegations against the Home Minister, which were vehemently denied by the ruling side. The BJP accused Mr. Gandhi of telling a “bundle of lies” and demanded that he apologise for “misusing” the House by making “baseless” allegations.
Speaker Om Birla also asked Mr. Gandhi to provide proof to substantiate his allegations.
Objecting to the remarks, Mr. Rijiju demanded that he apologise. “On what basis have you said this? This is highly objectionable. You should apologise”.
The House was adjourned twice amid the uproar over Mr. Gandhi’s remarks, and he could not complete his address.
Published – July 29, 2026 03:06 pm IST
