New Delhi [India], July 21 : Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Anurag Dhanda on Tuesday criticised the Congress over its protest at Lok Kalyan Marg (LKM), alleging that the opposition party was attempting to divert attention from the student movement at Jantar Mantar.
Reacting to the Congress protest, Dhanda alleged that Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party had opposed the student movement from the beginning and accused them of trying to discredit the students' agitation.
Dhanda further alleged that the Prime Minister had "invited' Rahul Gandhi to shift focus from the students' concerns.
"The Prime Minister has effectively invited Rahul Gandhi to stage a sit-in outside his own residence. He has instructed the media to give this event extensive coverage, a deliberate attempt to divert attention away from the hundreds of injured students at Jantar Mantar," he said.
Targeting Rahul Gandhi over previous political developments, the AAP leader alleged that the Congress leader had earlier helped the BJP-led government divert attention from issues related to national security.
"History shows that even earlier, during the conflict between India and Pakistan, when the entire nation was questioning Prime Minister Modi about why a ceasefire was declared while our Army was winning, Rahul Gandhi stepped in to shield him. Rahul Gandhi asked, 'Tell us first how many of our planes were shot down,' and the entire issue got diverted. The BJP has used Rahul Gandhi in the past, and I feel he is being used again to divert attention," Dhanda said.
Meanwhile, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were briefly detained by the Delhi Police on Tuesday evening while leading a protest near Prime Minister Narendra Modi's official residence at Lok Kalyan Marg, where Congress leaders were demanding accountability over the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak and seeking the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
While being detained by the Delhi Police, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said, "They are cowards. They are scared. We are not scared of them. They are scared of us."
Several Congress leaders and workers were also detained as police dispersed the demonstrators, who had marched from Rajaji Marg to Lok Kalyan Marg after alleging police brutality against students protesting over the paper leak a day earlier.