When ‘Self Hand-Cuffed’ Rahul Gandhi Shocked Narendra Modi
Intensifying the party’s protest against the union government, Rahul Gandhi Tuesday July 21, 2026 marched to the official residence of Prime Minister Modi and sat on a dharna along with Party President Mallikarjun Kharge, Kerala CM VD Satheesan, Karnataka CM DK Shivakumar and other Congress MPs and leaders
New Delhi: Intensifying the party’s protest against the union government, Rahul Gandhi Tuesday July 21, 2026 marched to the official residence of Prime Minister Modi and sat on a dharna along with Party President Mallikarjun Kharge, Kerala CM VD Satheesan, Karnataka CM DK Shivakumar and other Congress MPs and leaders.
The Congress Party’s sudden flash protest at PM Modi’s official residence 7, Lok Kalyan Marg - against paper leaks, unemployment, corruption, police action against students, and other burning issues in the country under the present dispensation, took the government as well as the Delhi Police by surprise.
"A Secret Plan"
As per the Congress Party sources, the party MPs and other leaders were unaware of any plan to protest at the PM House. The party sources said they were asked to reach Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge’s residence today afternoon to greet him on his 84th birthday.
After a ‘brief birthday party’, the Congress MPs, CMs and other leaders present there were asked to follow Rahul Gandhi’s convoy. It was only after they reached the PM Modi’s residence – around 500 mtrs from the Congress President’s house, they came to know about the dharna and sit-in protest.
After reaching the Prime Minister's address, the Congress leaders staged their protest and raised slogans demanding the resignation of Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah over the brutal crackdown on the Parliament march of students and youth yesterday. While sitting in front of the PM House, Congress leaders also symbolically hand-cuffed each other in a mark of protest against the government’s crackdown on dissent.
Taken aback by the Congress's flash protest, the government deputed Jitendra Singh, Minister of State (MoS) for the PMO, to tackle the situation. Rahul Gandhi presented the party’s demands in front of him that included a discussion on these issues in the Parliament, resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and apology from Prime Minister Modi for the brutal police action taken against the students and youth protesting at Jantar Mantar.
Rahul, Other Congress Leaders Detained
The Congress leaders, who were also joined by Samajwadi Party (SP) Chief Akhilesh Yadav and other Opposition MPs by then, continued their protest as the government did not agree to fulfill the party’s demands. Later on, senior Delhi Police officials approached Rahul Gandhi and asked him to call off the protest. He did not agree and vowed to continue the stir till the party’s demands are met. This forced the Police to detain him and other leaders from the Congress and the opposition parties.
Video footage shared online showed Delhi Police personnel forcibly taking Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Akhilesh Yadav and other Congress MPs and leaders into a bus parked nearby. Some images shared by the Congress Party showed minor injuries on his nose.
An hour before marching to the PM House, Rahul Gandhi called the Police action against the students an "attack on every Indian". He also said PM Modi all the time gets away without answers, but this time he won't.
"An attack on students is an attack on every Indian family... Prime Minister Modi thinks he can escape without giving answers, without facing any consequences - he won't be able to, not at all, this time", Rahul Gandhi wrote on X.
"Rude Behavior, Unacceptable"
The Congress leaders later slammed the government for Delhi Police's rude behavior and detention of the Leader of Opposition (Lop) Rahul Gandhi and other Congress leaders.
"On the instructions of the Prime Minister and Home Minister, the Delhi Police cowardly dragged our leader Rahul Gandhi ji. Rude behavior was meted out to Priyanka Gandhi ji, and she too was forcibly shoved into a bus.
"Our demands are clear - We will not tolerate lathis on students or cases against them...We will not let Dharmendra Pradhan keep his chair, and the Prime Minister and Home Minister must apologize to the students and their families, and resign", Congress Rajya Sabha MP Pawan Khera said.
The Youth Congress and its students' wing NSUI are already protesting across the country for over a month against paper leaks and seeking education reforms. Rahul Gandhi has also launched the party's nationwide campaign 'Chhatron ki Goonj' or the Echo of Students to highlight the students issues and loopholes in India's education system.
"The kind of torture being inflicted — if Narendra Modi thinks that 'Chhatron ki Goonj' - the Echo of Students, will be silenced by it, he is under a delusion, because this is the beginning of a new revolution", Congress leader R.S. Surjewala said.
Congress Spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said, "The brutality inflicted on the students cannot be tolerated, and all of this has been done by Amit Shah's Delhi Police at Narendra Modi's behest."
"Lathis weren't the only thing used on the youth; girls' clothes were torn. Attacks were made on women's private parts. Children were beaten, tear gas shells were fired at them, and youth were electrocuted... Narendra Modi, sitting in power, has lost his connection with the people, and this sit-in is the proof of that", she said.
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