Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Wednesday, 22 July 2026 strongly condemned the police action against Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi during a peaceful student protest, calling it an assault on the spirit of democracy and pledging Congress's continued support to students agitating over the NEET paper leak controversy.

Context

Posting in Telugu on X, Revanth Reddy declared that shedding blood for the country is nothing new for the Gandhi family, and that facing lathis and bullets is nothing new for the Congress party. He wrote: 'విద్యార్థులకు మద్దతుగా శాంతియుతంగా నిరసన తెలిపిన రాహుల్ గాంధీ, ప్రియాంక గాంధీలపై పోలీసుల దాడి ప్రజాస్వామ్య స్ఫూర్తిపై దాడి' — ('The police attack on Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi, who were peacefully protesting in support of students, is an attack on the spirit of democracy.')

The Chief Minister invoked Congress's freedom-struggle legacy, stating that it was the Congress party that drove the British out of the country. He said the party strongly condemns this 'authoritarian stance' and vowed that Congress's voice will 'continuously be heard on the side of students' in this fight to protect democracy.

Policy Backdrop

The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), introduced as the sole national medical entrance examination from 2016 following Supreme Court directives, has been at the centre of repeated controversy over alleged paper leaks and administrative failures. A significant wave of allegations over paper leaks surfaced in 2024, with reports implicating states including Bihar, prompting the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to launch a probe.

Rahul Gandhi and other opposition leaders raised the NEET issue in Parliament during the 2024 monsoon session, positioning Congress as a defender of medical aspirants. The #NEETPapaeLeak hashtag used by Revanth Reddy references this broader campaign against alleged irregularities in the examination system that affects hundreds of thousands of students annually.

Stakeholders and Impact

The protest action and the police response have drawn attention to the intersection of student rights, democratic freedoms, and opposition politics. Medical aspirants across India — particularly those from Telangana and other states who have long demanded either reform or abolition of NEET — are the primary stakeholders in this agitation.

For Congress, the episode presents an opportunity to consolidate its image as a party that stands with students and civil liberties. The Indian National Congress, founded in 1885 and the principal vehicle of India's independence movement, has routinely invoked its historical sacrifices to contrast with what it describes as authoritarian tendencies in current governance. Revanth Reddy, who serves simultaneously as Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president, carries the dual responsibility of state administration and party mobilisation.

What's Next

Attention will now turn to the Supreme Court hearings and the ongoing CBI probe into the NEET paper leak allegations, whose outcomes could determine whether the issue sustains political momentum into the next parliamentary session. Any further police action at protest sites is likely to intensify opposition demands for accountability at the Centre.

Congress's public posture — anchoring its student solidarity message in the language of the freedom struggle — signals that the party intends to keep the NEET controversy and democratic-rights narrative alive as a long-term political theme ahead of future electoral cycles.