What's Rahul Gandhi planning amid buzz over absence from CJP-Wangchuk protest: ‘Are you rattled, Modi ji?’

Congress leader is set for the next event of his own campaign on the same issues in Dehradun, also demanding Union education minister Pradhan's resignation.

Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi has not visited activist Sonam Wangchuk who's on hunger strike at the Cockroach Janta Party protest at Jantar Mantar for almost three weeks now, and that absence has become its own story — drawing jibes from Wangchuk himself, then a lengthy defence from a Congress leader, plus a shot at some perspective by CJP's founder on X.

Amid the chatter, the Congress leader's actual itinerary points elsewhere, towards the next event of his own campaign on the same issues, also demanding Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation over paper leaks and exam-related irregularities.

A month after its launch in Rajasthan's Kota, Rahul's event series ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ will see its next show in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, on July 17, at a venue changed at short notice after the state administration withdrew its earlier clearance.

Rahul also posted a video asking “Modi ji, are you rattled?”, over the venue-change row with the BJP government. Speaking in Hindi, he said: “Narendra Modi has taken a decision, that in the next 4-5 days, he wants to divert [public] attention by doing something or the other. You should not let him divert your attention. Unemployment is the biggest issue… future of 2 crore youths has been ruined.”

Uttarakhand Congress unit president Ganesh Godiyal confirmed on Wednesday that the Dehradun event, originally planned for Parade Ground, will now be held at Bannu School ground. He told reporters that the party had deposited fees and secured permission for July 15, 16 and 17, only for the administration to cancel it citing the extension of another event at the ground. The state and Centre's ruling BJP accused Congress of playing a “false victim card” over the dispute.

The campaign Rahul is running

Rahul Gandhi launched ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ (Echoing Voice of Students) from Kota on June 17. Three follow-up events — Prayagraj, Patna and Delhi — were deferred after he reportedly extended a foreign trip. The BJP took digs at it, even implying a “foreign conspiracy”.

Gandhi's first reported engagement upon return was a meeting with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal on July 14 evening, reportedly on issues in the party's Punjab unit.

Not far away from there, Wangchuk's fast continued, under the banner of the CJP protest that began on June 28 over the same paper-leak and NEET-related grievances. Wangchuk has refused to end the fast, despite being in “immense pain”, with his weight loss now past 8 kg.

Dipke reframes the question

CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke, in a post on X on Wednesday morning, pushed back on the “where is Rahul” narrative altogether. Rather than asking why Opposition leaders or CJP's own team members weren't fasting alongside Wangchuk, he said, “ask the questions that actually matter”.

“Why is the Prime Minister refusing to engage in a dialogue? Why is the Education Minister still not being held accountable? These are the questions that deserve answers, not distractions that only help shield those in power from accountability,” he wrote on X.

The government’s response has been dismissive at best, while Pradhan has branded the CJP “B-team of terrorists”. BJP president Nitin Nabin has attacked “virus and cockroach-like parties… [that] want to divide the country”.

Also read | ‘Apolitical’ Cockroach protest caught between absent Rahul, indifferent Modi govt

Dipke, meanwhile, thanked a string of opposition leaders, including Samajwadi Party's Akhilesh Yadav, NCP's Rohit Pawar and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee, for either visiting the site or extending solidarity. Congress MP Shashi Tharoor was among those who got a thank-you note for promising to raise their issues in Parliament.

Wangchuk, however, told Indian Express Hindi a day earlier that it would reflect “great pettiness” if top Opposition leaders stayed away. He was asked pointedly about Rahul Gandhi, and he said the public would “reject” leaders who did not express solidarity over genuine issues.

Mevani's rebuttal, Rahul's past record

This framing drew a response from Gujarat Congress Working President Jignesh Mevani on X; he rejected the idea that Congress had ignored the protest. He noted that the party had not said anything negative on Wangchuk or the protesting youth.

Mevani underlined that the Congress's student wing NSUI and the Youth Congress faced water cannons and lathis while protesting paper leaks in Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and other states. He pointed to Rahul Gandhi's ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ too as evidence that the Congress has been “walking with the youth every step”.