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Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, on Wednesday defended Congress' protest at the Lok Kalyan Marg, stating that the opposition leaders should be on the streets just like the students.

Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, Rahul Gandhi alleged that no discussion on the NEET-UG paper leak took place in Parliament, despite the opposition leaders approaching Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla in his chamber.

'Speaker said decision rested with government'

Replying to a question by ANI, the Congress MP said, "We felt that if students across India were taking to the streets, the opposition should do the same. That said, our natural arena is the Parliament. Before heading to the Prime Minister's residence, the opposition met the Speaker in his chamber. We urged him to allow a discussion on this critical issue. The Speaker said he would consult the government--implying that the decision rested with the government, not him. After the consultation, however, no discussion took place; the entire issue was ignored."

On Tuesday, Congress led a protest at Lok Kalyan Marg, after which Congress MPs Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and several other leaders were detained by the police.

'Pradhan a symbol of irregularities'

Congress demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. Further, Rahul Gandhi reiterated the party's demand for Pradhan's resignation, calling him a "symbol" of irregularities in the education system and police action against protestors on Monday.

Apart from Pradhan's removal, in the press conference, Gandhi demanded that the police officers who "assaulted" students should be made accountable and PM Modi should apologise. He said, "Dharmendra Pradhan is a symbol, and the students have pain about how they have been treated. Out of respect for students, that symbol has to be removed. He is completely incompetent, probably collusive in this (paper leak) drama. We know his background; we know how clean he is. There is a history here. To send a message to the students that we respect their sentiments, this man has got to go. We went to the PM's residence yesterday to support this demand, which every single student is making."

He alleged that the government wants to distract the public from the issue of paper leaks. He added that after receiving accountability, Congress will seek reforms in the examination system. "How the discussion is going to take place is not only the government's decision, because two people need to talk. That is going to be decided by the Opposition, at least our part of it. The government wants to distract from this. The government wants to rub this under the carpet, like this never happened. We want a resolution to the central issue. PM should apologise, and everyone who assaulted the students should be made accountable; this is the first step. Then we want to see the changes being made to the testing system, to the amount of money people are charging," the Congress leader said.

Opposition protests in black

The opposition MPs, including Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, held protests wearing black clothes against the government on the Parliament premises.

Congress workers held protests across several states on Wednesday, condemning the police action during the July 20 protest in the national capital and the detention of party leaders.

Meanwhile, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the government was ready for a parliamentary discussion on the NEET exam paper leak and related matters. (ANI)