‘Camera-Centric Drama’: BJP Tears Into Rahul Gandhi Over Parliament Dharna, Accuses Him of Diverting Vande Mataram Row

New Delhi: The BJP has launched a blistering attack on Rahul Gandhi over his dharna outside Parliament Street Police Station, accusing the Leader of the Opposition of turning an alleged pellet-gun incident into a political show.  

Union Minister and BJP leader JP Nadda said Gandhi’s protest was not about justice for students but an attempt to grab headlines and divert public attention. Ravi Shankar Prasad, a BJP MP, went even further, accusing Gandhi of engaging in “anarchist politics.”

Union Minister JP Nadda said Gandhi’s protest was neither about students nor justice, but an attempt to remain in the headlines. He also accused the Congress of damaging the interests of students and said the party could not escape accountability through political theatrics. 

"Now, the Congress party is bent on ruining the future of children and students as well...Rahul Gandhi must realize that the public has clearly recognized his 'hit-and-run' attitude and political hypocrisy. No matter how much drama he creates, the Congress cannot escape its sins or evade accountability. The people are demanding answers, and he will have to answer to them."

Nadda further attacked Gandhi over his decision to sit outside the police station.

“The entire nation is once again witnessing the kind of cheap, attention-seeking politics that Rahul Gandhi displayed today outside the Sansad Marg police station. Rahul Gandhi's sit-in protest today is neither for the students nor for the sake of justice; it is a symbol of the Congress party's political desperation and Rahul Gandhi's hunger for media attention.”

BJP: Why this dharna, and why now?

The BJP's central argument is that Gandhi's protest is unnecessary when the Supreme Court has already taken up the July 20 incident and appointed a five-member high-powered committee headed by a former judge to examine it.

Nadda questioned what Gandhi was trying to achieve by sitting outside a police station with cameras around him when the country's highest court is already examining the matter.

"The whole country knows that the Supreme Court has already taken cognisance of the July 20th incident and has constituted a five-member high-powered committee headed by a former judge. When the country's apex court is investigating the matter, what does Rahul Gandhi hope to prove by sitting in front of cameras outside the police station? Does the Leader of the Opposition lack faith in the country's judiciary? The truth is that Rahul Gandhi is staging this 'camera-centric' drama merely to keep himself in the headlines."

BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad also accused Gandhi of indulging in what he called the “politics of anarchy”. He questioned the decision to stage a dharna without prior permission and pointed to the ongoing investigation into the incident.

“It is very unfortunate that LoP Rahul Gandhi does politics of anarchy. Currently, he is sitting on dharna at Parliament Street PS without permission or prior information. The police have informed him that an FIR has already been registered on the incident he is quoting and it is being probed. The SC has formed a high-powered committee to probe into this. Rahul Gandhi, don’t you want to respect any law? We suspect and allege that Congress is now stuck due to its stance on the national song Vande Mataram. We condemn what the Rahul Gandhi-led Congress is doing right now."

BJP links Rahul’s protest to Vande Mataram row

Nadda also questioned the timing of Gandhi's protest, alleging that the Congress is attempting to shift public attention from the ongoing controversy surrounding Vande Mataram.

He said the Congress was facing questions over allegations of disrespect towards the national song and claimed Gandhi had created a fresh political confrontation to take the spotlight away from that controversy.

"If we consider the timing of this entire drama, we realize that the Congress party is currently facing intense criticism across the nation over the issue of 'Vande Mataram'. The public is demanding answers from the Congress regarding the disrespect shown to the national song, especially as a senior Congress leader was seen cutting a cake designed to look like the Tricolour. To conceal this anti-national face of his and to divert attention from the massive embarrassment he has faced, Rahul Gandhi has hastily orchestrated this new drama as a distraction."

The BJP has therefore sought to portray the dharna not as a straightforward demand for justice, but as a calculated political move by Gandhi at a time when the Congress is facing criticism on another issue.

'We won’t budge until FIR is registered': Rahul doubles down on FIR demand

Gandhi, on the other hand, refused to leave the police station, arriving with 19-year-old Sahil Lochab, who he claims was seriously injured by pellets during the July 20 student demonstration. LoP approached DCP Sachin Sharma and urged that a FIR be filed. Congress claimed that police authorities informed him that a FIR could not be registered at that time. Gandhi and Lochab then staged a dharna outside the police station, with Priyanka Gandhi, Salman Khurshid, Randeep Singh Surjewala, and other Congress workers joining them.

Gandhi stated that medical investigations revealed more than 200 pellets in Lochab's body, including three in his eye, and that the young boy had lost vision in that eye. He further stated that pellets had lodged near his heart.

“Pellet gun was used at Connaught Place on 20th July. AIIMS report clearly says that there are more than 200 shells inside his body and 3 in his eye. He has lost vision in that eye. There are shells near his heart that cannot be touched. Delhi Police say they did not fire pellet guns. So, there is just one question: someone must have done it…A crime has indeed happened…We are demanding that an FIR be registered. They told us that they have received order from the top and they cannot file an FIR. We won’t budge from here until an FIR is registered…All we demand is justice for this family…In this country, Amit Shah’s Home Ministry and Delhi Police personnel won’t let justice happen," he said.

Gandhi also revealed Lochab's supposed injuries to the journalists by lifting his T-shirt during the discussion.

Delhi Police has denied using pellet guns against protesters. Police did not file a FIR in response to Gandhi's request, claiming that the complainant was informed that his complaint will be referred to the Crime Branch as well.

The controversy comes from a student movement at Jantar Mantar on July 20, the first day of Parliament's Monsoon Session. The Cockraoch Janta Party led the protest, which demanded the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the NEET paper leak problem.

Pellet guns, which fire multiple small metal pellets, have been used as crowd-control weapons in Jammu and Kashmir since 2010. The Rapid Action Force, the CRPF's riot-control section, is equipped with pellet guns and shock batons. RAF soldiers were stationed at Jantar Mantar throughout the demonstration. The CRPF has not confirmed whether pellet weapons were used during the Delhi demonstration.