“Students Are Losing Their Future While Leaders Protect Their Chairs”: Rahul Gandhi Attacks Modi Govt

Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi has sharply criticized the Modi government following a police crackdown on students and activists in New Delhi, accusing the administration of overseeing a broken education system that has left young people hopeless about their futures.

In a statement issued after the police action, Gandhi said on social media that India’s students are saying “we have no future,” while government ministers insist “we won’t lose our seats.”

Gandhi argued that a country where students lose their future while ministers don’t lose their positions is a country without justice — a framing that positions the government’s political self-preservation against what he characterizes as its neglect of a generation’s prospects. He said Narendra Modi’s government has consistently overlooked youth issues, while alleging growing influence from the Hindu nationalist organization RSS over the education system.

He noted India’s demographic weight rests heavily on its young population, arguing the government has failed to provide better education, employment, and secure futures despite that demographic advantage — a critique that reflects Congress’s own long-standing political framing of the ruling party’s record rather than a neutral assessment, and one the BJP has consistently disputed by pointing to its own education and employment initiatives.

According to Gandhi, thousands of students in New Delhi were protesting for basic rights, better educational opportunities, and a brighter future when police used force against them. He called the police action undemocratic, saying the use of tear gas shelling and baton charges against peaceful young protesters reflects government failure rather than legitimate crowd control.

Gandhi said Congress has long highlighted the youth employment and education crisis, accusing the Modi government of prioritizing political interests over serious action on these issues — a recurring line of attack Congress has used against the BJP across recent election cycles, tying youth unemployment directly to broader claims about governance failures.

Other opposition parties have also condemned the police response to the student protests, according to the reporting, while videos and images of the demonstration continue circulating widely on social media.

The protest itself traces back to grievances over irregularities in the NEET medical entrance exam, before expanding into a broader movement now known as the Cockroach Janata Party, which has drawn support from figures ranging from activist Sonam Wangchuk to Kashmir MP Ruhullah Mehdi, who used the same demonstration to raise separate demands about Article 370. That breadth suggests the protest has become a gathering point for multiple grievances against the government rather than remaining confined to its original exam-related trigger.

Whether Gandhi’s intervention and broader opposition criticism translate into sustained political pressure, or whether the government’s response further escalates tensions with the student movement, will likely shape how this story develops in the coming days as videos of the police action continue drawing public attention.