Sarkar hataiye, cops whispered as they dragged me away, quips Rahul Gandhi
Rahul Gandhi quipped that when he was being dragged away from outside the Prime Minister's residence, the police personnel privately expressed discontent with the BJP government. Rahul shared the anecdote during a press conference on Wednesday.
While Rahul Gandhi was being dragged away by police during the Congress's flash protest outside Prime Minister Narendra Modi's residence, the Leader of the Opposition claimed he received an unexpected message from the cops. "Iss sarkar ko hataiye (remove this government)," Rahul claimed the police personnel whispered in his ear as they detained him.
Rahul pulled no punches as he shared the anecdote during a press conference on Wednesday over how the education system was allegedly "rigged". On Tuesday, unprecedented scenes unfolded outside PM Modi's 7, Lok Kalyan Marg residence as Rahul, Priyanka Gandhi and senior Congress leaders staged a sit-in, catching even the security personnel off guard.
As Rahul refused to budge despite intervention by Union Minister Jitendra Singh, the Delhi Police moved in to clear the site.
COPS WHISPERED IN MY EAR...: RAHUL GANDHI
Dramatic visuals of the Congress MP, bleeding from his nose, being held by both arms and legs as police tried to forcibly remove him went viral on social media.
It is during this melee that Rahul claimed the police personnel privately expressed discontent with the Modi government.
"The police dragged me away, but they were whispering in my ear, 'remove this government. I am from Rajasthan. I am from Haryana. We are only wearing the uniform'," Rahul quipped.
"They (the cops) have to follow orders, so they are doing so. Even the police are not happy with what is happening. They know a crime is being committed. They see their own children in these students," the Leader of the Opposition further said.
The Congress MP, who was detained at Chhatrasal Stadium in northwest Delhi, was released later in the night. On Wednesday, Rahul dismissed the police action against him as a "small cost" in front of the larger picture, which he emphasised was to "express the will of the students and young people".
"I am used to getting punched and all. It is no problem," Rahul, who holds a black belt in Aikido (Japanese martial art), said.
"This is the job that I am supposed to do as leader of opposition... I am supposed to bring attention to where pain is being felt. These are very small costs... So a couple of punches and all. This is not a problem. I am happy to take many more," he further said.
'152 PAPER LEAKS, ZERO CONVICTIONS'
Wearing a black armband as a mark of protest, in line with the opposition's all-black appearance in Parliament earlier in the day, Rahul broadened the attack on the Modi government.
On Wednesday, it was not limited to the brutal crackdown on student protesters who marched to Parliament on July 20. Rahul's line of attack was on the education system as a whole under the NDA regime, which he claimed had become unaffordable.
Dishing out data, Rahul claimed there had been "152 paper leaks" over the past decade with "zero convictions". "That is one paper leak per month... It has destroyed India's education system, which was our biggest asset," Rahul stressed.
"Families spend on one exam what the government spends on the entire education budget," he further said.
The Leader of the Opposition ended his address by training his guns on Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, whom he labelled "corrupt" and "incompetent".
"The demand of students for Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation is legitimate. Pradhan is a corrupt and incompetent man. He must be removed," Rahul said.