Rahul: Govts can’t work as personal fiefdoms
New Delhi: The success of the students’ movement has galvanised the Opposition, which is now seeking to corner the government on other issues, including the Ram Mandir treasury theft, ethanol blending in petrol and the situation in Manipur. Hailing the resignation of Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan as a victory for the students, Opposition leaders described it as the first major step towards reforming the education system and changing the style of governance. Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi called for a complete overhaul of the system, declaring, “Let’s get rid of this regime.” He demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi apologise for the police action against students and directly blamed Union home minister Amit Shah for authorising the use of force.
“Amit Shah is directly responsible for the violence against students as he authorised the use of lethal weapons and pellet guns. We will not accept forces shooting at our students. This will be our major issue in Parliament. The Prime Minister must apologise. You cannot continue to run the government the way you have been doing. If you do, what happened now will be ten times bigger,” Gandhi said. He said Pradhan’s resignation was also a message to other sections of society — farmers, labourers and the poor — who, according to him, were facing oppression under the government. Urging them to stand up without fear, he said, “Daro mat. Let’s get rid of this regime that is attacking India, destroying our Constitution and capturing all our institutions.”
