Political Tensions Flare: BJP, Congress Workers Clash in Vijayawada Over Rahul Gandhi's Protest Outside PM Modi's Residence

New Delhi:  Political tensions spilled onto the streets of Andhra Pradesh's Vijayawada as workers of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Indian National Congress clashed on Wednesday (July 22). 

The unrest followed a protest in the national capital on Tuesday, where leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and other party members demonstrated outside Prime Minister Narendra Modi's residence to demand accountability over the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak and call for the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

"We have marched ​to PM Modi’s house ‌to ⁠demand answers from him for the brutalities against young ​students ​yesterday," ⁠Rahul Gandhi posted on X, ​referring to ​the ⁠clashes between youth protesters and police ⁠in ​Delhi on ​Monday.

What happened in AP

The confrontation erupted as local party cadres of BJP and Congress engaged in heated slogan-shouting, which quickly escalated into physical scuffles. Police personnel deployed in the area intervened swiftly to separate the rival groups and restore order.

Why the row?

The national demonstration in the national capital was organised to denounce police action against students marching over alleged irregularities and paper leaks in competitive examinations in the national capital. 

Following the demonstration on Tuesday, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were detained by the Delhi Police.

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."

Visuals showed that police attempted to forcibly removed Rahul Gandhi from the site and were seen carrying him to the bus.

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.

Congress MP Randeep Singh Surjewala said the protest marked the beginning of a larger movement against the government.

"This is not the end; it marks the beginning of a new revolution under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi. They may imprison us, lathi-charge us, or mistreat us, but Modi ji will have to answer to the millions of sons and daughters of India who have lost their future and seen the hopes of their families extinguished due to paper leaks. This revolution will now blaze into a mighty inferno; under Rahul Gandhi's leadership, it will not be stopped," Surjewala said.

Notably, the detentions came shortly after Union Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office Jitendra Singh alleged that Rahul Gandhi had changed his stance during discussions held near the protest site. 

Singh claimed that Rahul Gandhi had initially agreed to end the sit-in if the government accepted a discussion in Parliament on the NEET issue but later added the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan as an additional condition.

It must be noted that Congress has maintained that the Centre must take responsibility for the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak and the police action against student protesters. 

The issue also led to repeated disruptions in both Houses of Parliament, with the Opposition demanding a debate on the examination controversy and the treatment of protesting students. 

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