The leader of India's opposition, Rahul Gandhi, was detained by Delhi police on Tuesday evening after staging an unsanctioned sit-in outside Prime Minister Narendra Modi's residence, an action that followed a day of violent clashes between security forces and student protesters. Gandhi, along with his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and other senior Congress figures, was forcibly removed and held for several hours before being released. The protest was triggered by a police crackdown on a march by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) movement, which has been demanding the resignation of the education minister over repeated examination paper leaks, including the high-stakes NEET medical entrance test. The detentions have paralysed Parliament and drawn condemnation from regional leaders, marking a sharp escalation in the political confrontation.

From New Delhi, the government of Prime Minister Modi has signalled readiness to debate the NEET controversy in Parliament, with parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju stating that 13 arrests have already been made in the paper leak case and that the prime minister has called the leaks a “grave sin”. Government sources, however, describe the opposition's demand for the education minister's resignation as politically motivated and accuse the Congress party of orchestrating a security breach by protesting in a high-security zone. The opposition Congress, led by Gandhi, maintains that the government has refused to allow a parliamentary discussion and is suppressing student voices; it is demanding the resignations of the education minister, the home minister, and the prime minister himself, as well as the withdrawal of cases against protesters and systemic examination reforms. The CJP movement, which began in May and has rapidly amassed millions of social media followers, continues its sit-in at Delhi's Jantar Mantar, insisting on the minister's removal and broader changes to the education system.

The standoff has brought legislative business to a halt, with both houses of Parliament repeatedly adjourned amid opposition sloganeering. The government's offer of a debate has not broken the impasse because the opposition insists on resignations as a precondition. Protests have spread beyond the capital: Congress-led sit-ins were held in Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, and Punjab, while the Supreme Court declined to urgently hear a plea against police action, indicating judicial reluctance to intervene at this stage. The CJP movement, initially satirical in tone, has tapped into deep public anger over examination integrity and youth unemployment, posing one of the most significant challenges to Modi's third term.

The unrest follows a series of examination scandals that have shaken confidence in India's testing apparatus. A NEET-UG paper leak forced 2.2 million aspiring medical students to sit a re-examination under tight security, and a separate scandal involved online marking irregularities for nearly two million high school students. The government has introduced corrective measures, but trust remains low. The CJP's rapid growth reflects broader discontent with the affordability and fairness of the education system. In a parallel effort, government ministers met activist Sonam Wangchuk, who is on an indefinite hunger strike in support of the students, signalling an attempt to de-escalate through dialogue.

The dossier remains deadlocked. The government has proposed a meeting of floor leaders to decide the rules for a parliamentary debate, but no date has been set. The opposition plans to continue protests both inside and outside Parliament, while the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has announced nationwide counter-demonstrations outside Congress offices. The CJP has indicated willingness for talks at a neutral venue, though its core demands remain unchanged. The next concrete step is the potential scheduling of a debate, but the opposition's insistence on ministerial resignations makes an early resolution unlikely.