Rahul Gandhi Stands Firm Against Amit Shah Over Jantar Mantar Incident

Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition, has firmly rejected calls for an apology regarding his accusations against Union Home Minister Amit Shah. This confrontation escalated following the alleged police crackdown on student demonstrators at Delhi's Jantar Mantar during a protest on July 20. In a press conference held in New Delhi, Gandhi reiterated his stance, stating that he would not back down despite mounting pressure from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for him to retract his statements. "I won't apologise. Amit Shah should be the one to apologise to the students of India. He should resign," Gandhi asserted, attributing the responsibility for the police's actions against the protesting students to Shah. The protests were primarily focused on the controversy surrounding examination paper leaks, which have sparked widespread discontent among students across the nation.

During the press conference, Gandhi also called for the dismissal of Amit Shah, advising Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take decisive action. He claimed that he was given the option to continue his speech in Parliament if he agreed to apologise, a suggestion he vehemently rejected, stating, "I will never ever apologise" to the BJP or the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Earlier in the day, during a heated debate in the Lok Sabha regarding the Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026, Gandhi launched a scathing attack on Shah, alleging that the Home Minister had effectively sanctioned violence against students. He claimed that during the crackdown at Jantar Mantar, police had fired pellets at the protesters, which led to a significant uproar among BJP members, who demanded that he either provide evidence for his claims or retract his statements. Speaker Om Birla subsequently removed parts of Gandhi's speech from the official records of the House proceedings.