Rahul, Priyanka, Akhilesh detained during CJP protest in New Delhi

The Cockroach Janata Party’s protest has now entered a more violent phase. After what it described as a brutal attack on students, opposition leaders have now been detained. India’s Home Minister Amit Shah had instructed protesters not to hold a sit in demonstration inside the high security zone. Defying that order, Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, Priyanka Gandhi and other Congress MPs were preparing to stage a protest in front of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s residence.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav also joined them. However, Delhi Police detained them in the evening.

Ahead of Tuesday’s planned sit in protest outside the prime minister’s residence against what the opposition called the police assault on student and youth protesters with batons and tear gas, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi wrote in a post on X, "An attack on students is an attack on every Indian family. Prime Minister Modi thinks he can get away without answering any questions and without facing any consequences. He cannot, certainly not this time. I appeal to every patriotic Indian who believes our students deserve justice to join our protest in front of the Prime Minister’s residence. The voice of India’s students cannot be ignored."

Along with the Congress MPs, the chief ministers of two Congress governed states, Kerala’s VD Satheesan and Karnataka’s DK Shivakumar, also joined Rahul’s protest on Tuesday.

After the protest began near Prime Minister Modi’s residence on Lok Kalyan Marg, Union Minister of State Jitendra Singh met the protesters and requested that they leave the high security area. He later met Amit Shah and returned to Lok Kalyan Marg. Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan accompanied him. They informed the Congress leaders of Amit Shah’s directive to withdraw the sit in program.

However, there was no breakthrough until Tuesday evening. Rahul and the other leaders were preparing for an overnight sit in protest with four demands. The Congress leaders demanded the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, an apology from the Modi government accepting responsibility for the alleged police excesses, a statement by Amit Shah in Parliament and a discussion on the National Education Policy. So far, the Modi government has not indicated that it will accept those demands. According to Jitendra Singh, the government initially agreed to Congress’ primary demand of holding a discussion in Parliament on the NEET paper leak issue. However, he said Rahul and the other leaders later added additional conditions and remained firm on their demand for the education minister’s resignation.