AAP whines over Rahul Gandhi stealing media attention in CJP protests, gets schooled by other ‘Liberals’

AAP leaders Atishi, Sanjay Singh and Saurabh Bharadwaj criticised Rahul Gandhi's protest over the NEET issue, claiming it weakened the ongoing CJP agitation.
AAP's criticism of Rahul Gandhi did not go down well with several liberal commentators, activists and Congress leaders, many of whom publicly criticised the party's posts and questioned why it was attacking an Opposition leader instead of the government. (Image via India Today and NDTV)

Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, along with Congress MP K.C. Venugopal and several other party leaders, staged a sit-in protest near Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s residence in New Delhi on Tuesday, 21st July, over alleged irregularities in the NEET examination. 

The protest, which demanded action against the Central government over the NEET paper leak controversy, soon sparked a political debate.

However, instead of supporting the protest, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) accused the Congress of weakening the ongoing Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protest at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar, only to face criticism from several liberal voices and Congress supporters online.

AAP targets Congress over Rahul Gandhi’s protest

Soon after Rahul Gandhi’s dharna, senior AAP leaders claimed that the Congress protest had diverted attention from the month-long CJP agitation and even questioned the government’s response to the two protests.

Senior AAP leader and former Delhi Chief Minister Atishi said that the Congress was working in “jugalbandi” with the BJP government.

Comparing Rahul Gandhi’s protest with the CJP agitation, she questioned why the Congress leader was allowed to protest near the Prime Minister’s residence while, according to her, the government had refused to engage with CJP supporters despite their protest continuing for weeks.

In a post on X, she wrote, “This is amazing! CJP and Sonam Wangchuk: One-month protest at Jantar Mantar. Modi govt refuses to talk to them.” She further added, “Rahul Gandhi: Allowed to protest outside PM residence. In one hour, Modi Govt starts dialogue. Wah! Kya jugalbandi hai!”

AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh also accused Rahul Gandhi of weakening the CJP movement. In a post on X, he wrote in Hindi, “Apparently, to undermine CJP’s protest, Modi got Rahul Gandhi to stage a protest at his own residence.”

Delhi AAP chief Saurabh Bharadwaj also attacked the Congress, alleging that its senior leadership had remained silent on what he described as the “GenZ movement.”

He claimed that Congress-linked social media accounts and influencers had been trying to weaken the CJP protest from the very beginning.

“Congress’s top leaders stay silent on GenZ movement, but their social media and influencers have been trying to weaken the Cockroach Movement from the very first day,” Bharadwaj wrote.

Anti-BJP voices turn against AAP

However, AAP’s criticism of Rahul Gandhi did not go down well with several liberal commentators, activists and Congress leaders, many of whom publicly criticised the party’s posts and questioned why it was attacking an Opposition leader instead of the government.

Atishi’s post also attracted widespread criticism. Several social media users urged her to delete the post, arguing that it unnecessarily targeted another Opposition party. Although she did not delete it, users pointed out that she later edited the post and removed the line, “Wah! Kya jugalbandi hai!”

Filmmaker Varun Grover was among those who criticised Atishi. Replying to her post, he wrote, “Have some shame and delete this.”

Actor Simi Garewal also dismissed Atishi’s remarks, writing, “This is utter nonsense. One would expect you to have more factual insight by now.”

An 11-year-old ‘climate activist’, Licypriya Kangujam, also criticised the AAP leader and wrote, “Madam, we respect you a lot but this is not the right time for credit politics. Your unwavering support matters. Do whatever you can. Kindly delete such illogical tweet. Even its the time for ruling MPs also to come out and support the students.”

Congress leaders also joined the criticism. AICC National Convener Ruchira Chaturvedi wrote, “Atishi, you know that Rahul Gandhi and Congress MPs were brutally dragged and detained, right? Do you know how foolish you sound when you attack the Opposition instead of questioning the Govt & demanding Modi’s resignation? Who are you trying to help here? Whose side is AAP on?”

Another Congress worker also criticised the AAP, posting, “Problem with AAP is that they think beyond their capacity, your president is not even MLA now and pls stop this nonsense and get some life and go and do some drama in your assembly.”

The exchange highlighted growing tensions among the INDI Alliance partners, with many Opposition supporters questioning why AAP leaders chose to target Rahul Gandhi instead of focusing their criticism on the BJP-led government.

Background

Earlier on Tuesday, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and several senior Congress leaders staged a dharna outside Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Lok Kalyan Marg residence, demanding the resignation of the Prime Minister and Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the NEET controversy and police action against protesting students. 

After nearly 20 minutes, Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office Jitendra Singh met Rahul Gandhi and requested him to end the protest, but he refused. Soon afterwards, Delhi Police detained Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and several other Opposition leaders.

Written by OpIndia Staff
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