Rahul's remarks on student protests trigger Parliament showdown: What happened next

NEW DELHI: Amid repeated disruptions, sloganeering and adjournments, the Lok Sabha on Wednesday passed the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026, which seeks to impose stricter punishment for paper leaks and examination-related offences.The debate, which resumed after days of deadlock, quickly turned into a political showdown after leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi attacked the government over the police action during the July 20 student protests, drawing sharp rebuttals from the treasury benches.Here are the top developments:Rahul targets Amit Shah, RSSParticipating in the debate on the Bill, Rahul Gandhi took a direct swipe at Union home minister Amit Shah, claiming his absence from the House reflected "fear"."I am very happy today to see that the so-called home minister of this country does not have the courage to come and sit here... Why is the home minister not here today? The home minister is not here today because he is scared," Rahul said."The home minister authorised the shooting on our students. He put pellets into the blood of our students. He ordered the students of India to be shot," he alleged.Launching another attack on the government, Rahul said India's education system was "terrible" and "cruel" and accused the Centre of privatising education."Our education system is terrible, it's cruel... Everything is being privatised... It is an extortion system, it is a brutal, terrible system," he said.Alleging that the RSS is controlling the education ministry, Rahul said, "The soul of the system has been captured by the RSS. The resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan is superficial because Dharmendra Pradhan never ran the education ministry. The organisation that runs the education ministry is called the RSS. The man who runs it is an OSD sitting in the minister's office," Rahul said.He further claimed students were not being allowed to pursue their passions or question the system and were instead being forced to accept "the nonsensical history that the RSS fantasises about."Remarks spark uproar, partially expungedParliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju objected to Rahul Gandhi's remarks and demanded an apology."On what basis have you said this? This is highly objectionable. You should apologise," Rijiju said.Speaker Om Birla immediately intervened, reminding Rahul that the discussion was not on the home minister."We are not discussing the Home Minister today," Birla said, asking the Congress leader to provide evidence to substantiate his allegations.Parts of Rahul Gandhi's speech were later expunged from the House records.The Lok Sabha was also adjourned twice amid uproar over his remarks.Government hits backUnion commerce minister Piyush Goyal accused Rahul Gandhi of making "baseless" and "false" allegations over the alleged police action on students."It was nothing but a bundle of lies. He should not be allowed to get away with this. Rahul Gandhi should apologise. This is a serious misuse of the House," Goyal told reporters in the Parliament complex."There was no firing at all. How can Rahul Gandhi make such false allegations? He should apologise in the House and apologise to the country," he said.Calling Rahul "frustrated", Goyal claimed students had "rejected" the Congress leader."There is no cure for some people. The Leader of the Opposition made such baseless and false statements on the floor of the House. There was no firing, yet such baseless allegations were made inside Parliament. I strongly condemn it," he added.Jitendra Singh criticises RahulReplying to the debate, Union Minister Jitendra Singh accused Rahul Gandhi of politicising the issue instead of participating in a constructive discussion."This legislation has been brought with great sensitivity and reflects the commitment of Prime Minister Narendra Modi towards ensuring fairness in public examinations. Instead of participating in a constructive discussion or offering suggestions, the Opposition is trying to politicise the issue," Singh said.He also criticised Rahul's conduct in Parliament."I am surprised by the behaviour of the leader of the opposition. The kind of language he used in Parliament was inappropriate. Such expressions should not be used in the House," he said.Singh further said Rahul appeared unaware of basic parliamentary procedures despite occupying the post of Leader of Opposition."The office of the leader of the opposition carries great respect. It is surprising that he does not seem to know the basic norms of Parliament," he said.Referring to Rahul's allegation against Amit Shah, Singh said no minister could order police action."When Rahul Gandhi claims that Amit Shah ordered action against students, he has failed to provide any evidence. For basic information, no minister can issue such orders. Such decisions are taken by a magistrate, District Magistrate (DM), or Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM). This is basic administrative knowledge, and it appears he lacks even this understanding," Singh said.Bill passed with tougher penaltiesThe Lok Sabha later passed the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026 after Jitendra Singh's reply.The Bill proposes to increase the punishment for those using unfair means in public examinations to a minimum of five years' imprisonment, extendable up to ten years, compared to the existing provision of three to five years.It also seeks to raise the maximum fine for offenders from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 50 lakh.For service providers found involved in examination-related offences, the maximum fine has been proposed to be increased from the existing level to Rs 5 crore, while the debarment period from conducting public examinations will be doubled from four years to eight years.For organised examination-related crimes, the Amendment Bill proposes imprisonment of not less than seven years, extendable up to ten years, along with a maximum fine of Rs 10 crore, up from the existing Rs 1 crore.The Bill also empowers the Centre to constitute a Special Task Force to investigate paper leaks and other examination-related offences.In addition, it proposes a new Section 12A mandating completion of investigations within two months, day-to-day trials in designated Special Fast Track Courts to be completed within three months of filing the charge sheet, and the appointment of Special Public Prosecutors for every such court.Rahul addresses mediaAfter the day's proceedings, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi accused the Centre of denying him an opportunity to speak in the Lok Sabha because he held Union home minister Amit Shah responsible for the alleged police brutality during the July 20 CJP march.Addressing a press conference, Rahul claimed he was assured he would be allowed to resume his speech if he apologised, but said he refused, declaring that he would "never ever apologise to the BJP, RSS, or any other person associated with them.""As you saw today, the leader of the opposition was not allowed to speak in the Lok Sabha. Multiple times, I asked the Speaker to bring order to the House so that I could speak. Multiple times, Rajnath Singh ji and others were allowed to speak, but I was not allowed to speak. The excuse was that I said something about Mr. Amit Shah. I said that Mr. Amit Shah was responsible for the brutality that was carried out," Rahul said.During the press conference, Rahul called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to sack Amit Shah over the alleged crackdown on student protesters and demanded an independent probe into the incident, which is being monitored by the Supreme Court.He also claimed the Congress had gathered evidence showing that police used electric batons, pellet guns and lathis fitted with nails to disperse students."They were shot with pellet guns. One boy who was shot with a pellet gun is most likely to lose his eye and may not be able to see. I have seen the AIIMS medical certificate, which shows that he was shot with pellet guns. Shock batons were used, not just normal lathis, lathis with nails. Where did the police get this idea from?" Rahul said."Now there are two possibilities. Either Amit Shah gave the order to shoot people with pellet guns, beat people with lathis with nails, and use electric batons, or he did not know it was happening. If he did not know, he is incompetent. If he ordered it, he is culpable. In either case, he has to go. And every single child who has been beaten must know this," he added.BJP hits backReacting to Rahul's remarks, BJP MP Sambit Patra defended the objections raised by treasury bench members during the Congress leader's speech in the Lok Sabha."Rahul Gandhi alleged that Kiren Rijiju and Rajnath Singh interrupted him, while he himself was not given an opportunity to speak. First of all, the two or three objections raised by Kiren Rijiju were entirely justified. Those objections were regarding the use of the unparliamentary word 'idiot', which, under the rules of Parliament, cannot be used on the floor of the House. As the Parliamentary Affairs Minister, it was his responsibility to seek clarification on that."Kiren Rijiju's demeanour, body language, and choice of words reflected decency, humility, and composure. He was not angry. In a calm manner, he said, 'We want to hear you. Please do not use the word "idiot", because the House functions according to parliamentary rules.' Defence minister Rajnath Singh made only one appeal. He said, 'Rahul ji, please speak,' and appealed to the members of the treasury benches to listen to Rahul Gandhi carefully. What greater example of democratic tradition could there be than that?" Patra said.Get the latest India News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.