Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday reaffirmed his support for students protesting over the alleged NEET paper leak, asserting that their "three demands" were "non-negotiable" and insisting that Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan "has to be sacked".
Addressing the media after meeting a group of students at his residence in New Delhi, Rahul Gandhi said Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whom he described as the head of the entire system, must apologise to the students.
Terming the students the future of the country, he said Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the past and the “past can never fight the future”.
Reiterating his demand for the removal of the education minister, Gandhi described Pradhan as a "symbol of destruction of valuable students.".
“There are three non-negotiable demands (of the students). Dharmendra Pradhan, who is corrupt, incompetent and misaligned, must be sacked,” Gandhi said.
He claimed there was speculation within the government about shifting Pradhan to another ministry, but said such a move would not satisfy the protesting students.
The Congress leader also said that he told the students that no amount of pressure by the Centre can force their removal from the protest site at Jantar Mantar.
“I told the students not to worry. No amount of strength can move them from there (Jantar Mantar). They can shut down (internet) and intimidate, but the students will not go away,” Gandhi said.
The remarks come amid raging protests in the capital led by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), demanding reforms in the examination system and the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan over the NEET paper leak.
The CJP has maintained that its three demands — exit of Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Rs 1 crore compensation for families of NEET-UG victims, and no legal action against protesters — are non-negotiable.
Union ministers J P Nadda and Jitendra Singh, who met the CJP delegation on Friday, had said they would convey the government's position on Saturday.
(With inputs from PTI)