NEW DELHI: Indian opposition lawmakers disrupted parliament on Wednesday (Jul 22) in support of student protesters, echoing their calls for the education minister to resign over exam leaks and ratcheting up pressure on Prime Minister Narendra Modi after days of unrest.
The protests, which started last month over the leak of medical school entrance exam papers that affected some 2 million students, grew this week when tens of thousands of young protesters took to the streets of New Delhi on Monday, with police using tear gas and batons to push them back.
Protests have since spread around the country to Mumbai, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Goa, Guwahati, Thiruvananthapuram, Jammu and Ahmedabad, heightening the biggest youth challenge to Modi since he came to power in 2014.
Opposition lawmakers led by Rahul Gandhi gathered outside the parliament building in New Delhi on Wednesday, many dressed in black and waving placards calling on Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to quit.
Later, they disrupted proceedings by shouting and interrupting the speaker, forcing repeated suspensions of the Lower and Upper House.
Gandhi told a press conference that students want Pradhan to quit, those who beat them during protests in Delhi to be held accountable, and Modi to apologise to them.
“We are fully backing them. This is not negotiable under any circumstance,” he said.
On Tuesday, Gandhi’s main opposition Congress party launched a sit-in outside Modi’s residence. Police detained Gandhi, his sister Priyanka Vadra, and several other opposition leaders but released them later.
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