NEW DELHI: Former Union education minister and senior BJP leader Dharmendra Pradhan on Tuesday trained his guns on Lok Sabha leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi, branding him a “habitual liar” and accusing the Congress of shedding “crocodile tears” over students’ concerns.Pradhan’s remarks came amid protests in Jharkhand over irregularities and paper leaks in competitive examinations. In Jharkhand, Congress is part of the ruling alliance with Jharkhand Mukti Morcha led by chief minister Hemant Soren in the state.In a post on X, former Union education minister accused the Congress of “continuously spreading lies” about students’ interests and alleged that Rahul Gandhi “lacks facts”.“The leader of opposition, who habitually lies, neither wants to come to Parliament nor listen to answers. They just want to spread their lies and shed crocodile tears,” Pradhan said.Pradhan also hit back at the opposition’s sustained attack on the Centre and Union home minister Amit Shah, accusing Rahul Gandhi and the Congress of making “baseless” and “factless” allegations.“Making baseless, factless false accusations against the Honorable Home Minister Shri Amit Shah ji reveals the political desperation of Rahul Gandhi and the Congress,” Sambalpur MP said.The former Union minister also maintained that the government was ready for a discussion in Parliament on “every issue”, while accusing the Congress of deliberately disrupting proceedings.“The government is ready for discussion in Parliament on every issue, but Congress is obstructing the temple of democracy, Parliament House, and crushing the interests of the country and the youth,” he said.Pradhan alleged that the opposition’s objective was political, rather than addressing issues concerning the country and young people. He also accused Congress leaders of creating “chaos” outside Parliament when discussions are held inside the House.Turning the spotlight on the JMM-Congress government in Jharkhand, Pradhan accused it of following a policy of “selective democracy” over the handling of student protests.“Congress’s democracy is also ‘selective’-violence against youth where they are in government, and lies and commotion where they want to shine politically,” he said, referring to the use of lathi-charge, water cannons and tear gas against protesting students in Jharkhand.Pradhan also questioned Lok Sabha LoP Rahul’s silence on the Jharkhand protests, saying the Congress leader holds press conferences on “every issue” but has not spoken about the student agitation. Meanwhile, Rahul held a presser on Monday and also responded on the question of crackdown on Jharkhand students.“The youth of the country have fully understood this duplicitous character of the Congress,” Pradhan said, adding that there was “no place for dictatorship in democracy”.His remarks came days after he stepped down as Union education minister following prolonged student protests in New Delhi and across the country over the NEET-UG paper-leak fiasco.The BJP’s attack on Rahul also extended to senior party leader Sudhanshu Trivedi, who accused the former Congress president of holding Parliament hostage and questioned the Congress over its shifting demands.At a press conference, Trivedi took an indirect swipe at Rahul, referring to him as a “prince with a disturbed mind” while criticising the Opposition’s conduct in Parliament.“I think the makers of our Constitution could not have imagined that a ‘prince with a disturbed mind’ would hold the country’s highest House hostage through his arrogance,” Trivedi said.He alleged that the Congress and other opposition parties had repeatedly changed their demands and were not interested in allowing meaningful debate in Parliament.“For weeks, the Opposition, particularly Congress and leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi, have shown that they do not want meaningful discussion in the House,” Trivedi said.He claimed the PM Modi-led government had already accepted several of the opposition’s demands, including those concerning NEET rules, stricter laws, the resignation of the education minister and withdrawal of cases.“They then demanded a statement from home minister Amit Shah. Now that the government and the home minister are ready to give the statement, why is the House still not being allowed to function?” Trivedi asked.A day earlier, Rahul in his presser, condemned the use of force against students. He also called on the state government to engage with the protesters and resolve their concerns.“My message to protesting students in Jharkhand is clear. We condemn any violence against peacefully protesting students,” Rahul said.
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“It does not matter where it is happening. We condemn it, we are against it, we do not recommend it, and we do not support it. We are very clear,” Rae Bareli MP said.Rahul maintained that peaceful protests should not be met with force and urged the Jharkhand government to continue listening to the students.“As long as protests are peaceful, we are against any attack on it with violence,” he said.In an earlier post on X, Rahul said students had a right to protest peacefully and that their concerns could be resolved only through dialogue.“Students have a right to peaceful protest, and only dialogue can yield solutions. The Jharkhand government must continue to hear these students out and resolve their issues immediately,” he said.Several protesters claimed they were injured during police action after they reached the final barricade near Jagannathpur Temple on the road leading to the Jharkhand assembly, where the Monsoon Session is currently under way.
