3 min readNew DelhiAug 12, 2026 01:23 PM IST
First published on: Aug 12, 2026 at 01:23 PM IST
After Union Home Minister Amit Shah said Wednesday that the government was ready to answer all questions raised by the Opposition, Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi hit back, accusing Shah of being absent for the past 20 days and saying they were now making a last-ditch attempt to revive their position.
“The balloon has burst, and now, at the last moment, they are trying to refill the gas. Amit Shah has no courage, the home minister has no courage,” Gandhi said.
Responding to Shah’s offer for a discussion on the alleged police action against students during their July 20 march over the NEET paper leak issue, Gandhi said the Opposition was not interested in hearing what he called the minister’s “imagination”, “lectures or a discussion”. Instead, he said, the government must answer specific questions about the alleged use of force against protesting students.
“We are interested in some simple things,” Gandhi said, asking who ordered police to shoot at protesting students, injure them, and use batons against them.
“Who blinded one of the students and shot one of the students in the ear? Who gave the order to beat the students with lathis with nails?” Gandhi said, alleging that the orders were implemented by the Home Ministry.
“Did Mr Amit Shah give this order to shoot our children? If he did, he should resign because he is culpable. And if he did not, he should resign because he is incompetent,” he said.
He further alleged that Shah “disappeared” during the 20-day parliamentary standoff, despite his movements in and around Parliament being visible.
“He used to come here (Parliament complex). His cars would come and go. There were 30 cars around him. Students should know this. If you go outside his house, there were thousands of policemen so that the students don’t reach there,” said Gandhi.
Gandhi also rejected the BJP’s allegation that he had remained silent on violence against students in Jharkhand.
“I am not quiet on that. I have said that we don’t appreciate any violence against our students. I am openly saying this,” he said.
The Congress leader also took aim at the media during his interaction with reporters, objecting to what he described as repeated interruptions while he was speaking.
“Do you interrupt him (Shah)? Why don’t you? You interrupt us, but you never interrupt him. What is special about him? The whole media is like mice around him and stands quietly. Now, students are not scared in the country. And you shouldn’t be scared too.”
Rahul Gandhi, who will be spending a full day with the party workers, is a blue belt in Jiu-Jitsu. 
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