With the protests in Delhi’s Jantar Mantar and elsewhere forcing Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to resign, the Opposition now looks to corner Union Home Minister Amit Shah over alleged police excesses during the July 20 march to Parliament. Opposition leaders present at a meeting at Leader of the Opposition, Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge’s chamber on Monday decided to stall parliamentary proceedings and demand a statement by the Home Minister, sources have said.
Crowd control measures used by security forces against protesters marching to Parliament have come under scrutiny, with many flagging the use of pellet guns. Earlier, the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, wrote to the Home Minister, seeking accountability for the “barbaric assault” on student protesters. That was an indication that the Opposition now plans to take the fight to Shah.
Rahul’s letter to Shah
In his letter to the Home Minister, Gandhi said, “Our students were demanding a fair and accountable education system. Instead of being heard, security forces assaulted them with indiscriminate force, including lethal weapons and tear gas.”
On Sunday, even as the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) called off its protest, Gandhi reiterated the Opposition’s two demands – an apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and “accountability” from Shah.
“Hundreds have suffered serious injuries. Women students have been assaulted by policemen, including by deliberately targeting their private parts. Most shocking has been the use of lethal pellet guns,” wrote Gandhi in his letter to Shah on Sunday.
Citing media and social media reports, he said several people, including a journalist, suffered grave injuries. He questioned whether Shah had personally sanctioned the use of pellet guns and the alleged deployment of plainclothes personnel to assault protesters.
“I met 19-year-old student Sahil Lochab, who is now in severe pain (and) is likely to lose an eye because he was shot with pellet guns. Security forces deployed in Delhi answer ultimately to (Shah),” he said.
The Congress leader emphasised that peaceful protest is essential in any democracy, and it is the government’s duty to protect protesters and address their concerns through dialogue.
“As Home Minister, did you approve the use of lethal force, including pellet guns, against students? If not, who did? Are the people in plain clothes seen beating students with lathis police personnel or volunteers? Who authorised their deployment? “ he asked.
Opposition’s Parliament strategy
Sources told The Indian Express that some Opposition parties, including the Congress, TMC and CPI(M), have drafted adjournment motions under Rule 267, seeking a discussion on the authorisation of the use of “lethal weapons” during the crackdown against students in Delhi. Rule 267 lays down the procedure for ways to seek urgent discussion in Parliament. The Samajwadi Party, sources said, is also likely to be on board but a final decision will be taken on Monday.
“We will insist on answers from Amit Shah when Parliament meets on Monday. The country needs to know who authorised the use of a semi-lethal weapon like the pellet gun and Parliament needs to discuss the violence against the country’s students who were protesting peacefully,” said an Opposition MP.
A senior Congress MP, part of the party’s Parliament strategy group, told The Indian Express that the Opposition has been clear that it needs the government to concede to the three demands of the students. “While the CJP may have ended the protest, we will continue to take this fight forward against the government. The PM should apologise and the Home Minister should answer the questions of Parliament,” said the MP.
“We will demand answers not just from the government at large, but directly from the Home minister and PM,” said the MP.
Sources in the CPI(M) said the party will also submit an adjournment motion for a discussion on the violence in Delhi. “The Home ministry controlled everything that happened and the Home minister should answer questions as he is directly culpable,” said a CPI(M) leader.
During the crackdown on July 20 during the march to Parliament, several students had sustained injuries and Sahil Lochab, 19, had suffered “pellet injuries” on the right side of his body, while a 28-year-old sports journalist had sustained injuries from “physical assault at Jantar Mantar by a pellet gun”.
A final decision on the strategy for Parliament for the coming days will be decided on Monday morning at the meeting of floor leaders belonging to Opposition parties in Rajya Sabha Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge’s chamber.
The targeting of Shah by the Opposition in the coming days in Parliament comes just before the Parliament is scheduled to address two important pieces of legislation: the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026, and the Prevention of Insults to National Honour (Amendment) Bill, 2026.
Writing to Shah on the eve of Parliament reconvening, Gandhi said, “Security forces deployed in Delhi answer ultimately to (Shah)." 
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