Amit Shah behind 'brutality' against students, must quit: Rahul Gandhi

Rahul Gandhi accused Home Minister Amit Shah of being "either incompetent or culpable" over the police action against Neet protesters in Delhi and urged the Prime Minister to remove him

Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday demanded Union Home Minister Amit Shah's removal, alleging he was responsible for what he described as Delhi Police's "brutality" against students protesting in New Delhi over the Neet-UG question paper leak. He also sought a Supreme Court-monitored probe into the police action.

 

"Amit Shah is either incompetent or culpable," Gandhi said at a press conference. "He is responsible for the brutality against students on the streets of Delhi."

 

"The Delhi Police reports to the Ministry of Home Affairs, which is headed by Amit Shah. The RAF and the CRPF also report to the Home Minister. They carried out the beatings," he said.

 

 

"I wrote to the Home Minister on July 25, asking whether he had approved the use of pellet guns against students protesting in Delhi. I did not even receive an acknowledgement," the Lok Sabha LoP said.

 

"I request the Prime Minister to sack Shah and order a probe by a Supreme Court-monitored high-powered committee," Gandhi said.

Gandhi says he was asked to apologise before speaking in Parl

Gandhi  also said he was asked to apologise before being allowed to speak in Parliament, after his remarks on Union Home Minister Amit Shah during a debate on the anti-paper leak Bill triggered an uproar.

 

Speaking at the press conference, Gandhi said, "Everyone in the House spoke, except for me." He added that he repeatedly requested Speaker Om Birla to restore order so he could continue his speech but was not allowed to do so.

 

"Multiple times I asked the Speaker to bring order to the House so that I could speak, but I wasn't allowed to speak. And the excuse was that I said something about Amit Shah. I said Amit Shah was responsible for the brutality that was carried out," Gandhi said.

 

He also refused to apologise. "I will never ever apologise to BJP, RSS or any other person associated with them," Gandhi said.

 

Referring to the July 20 protest over the Neet-UG question paper leak, Gandhi said: "To me, the most important issue is that students were brutalised on the streets of Delhi. Shot with pellet guns, one of them is most likely to lose his eye."

 

The controversy began during the debate on the Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026, when Gandhi alleged that Shah had "authorised" police action against students protesting in Delhi.

Speaker Om Birla intervened, saying the discussion was not about the Home Minister, while Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju demanded that Gandhi substantiate his allegation or apologise. The House was adjourned twice amid protests by Treasury bench members.

 

Replying to the debate later, Union Minister Jitendra Singh rejected Gandhi's allegations. He said no bullets were fired during the protest and that the authority to order firing at a crowd rests with a magistrate, not a minister.

 

"The first and fundamental point is he should know that when no shots were fired in the first place, the question of giving an order does not arise at all. (Jab goli chali hee nahi, toh aadesh dena ka sawal hee paida nai hota)," Singh said.

 

Singh said only tear gas was used during the protest and accused Gandhi of making allegations without evidence. "So without facts, and without a sense of responsibility, saying something in the House and then leaving the House, cannot be the behaviour of a responsible leader of opposition," he said.