Congress leader and Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi launched a live public interaction titled Chhatron Ki Goonj (Voice of Students) in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, on Friday, 17 July 2026, as part of what his office tagged the #ShikshaRevolution campaign.

Context

The event, broadcast live on X (formerly Twitter), brought Gandhi directly before students and youth in Dehradun, the capital of Uttarakhand. The hashtags #ChhatronKiGoonj and #ShikshaRevolution framed the outreach as part of a broader Congress push to centre education in its opposition narrative ahead of future electoral cycles.

Dehradun serves as a hub for schools, colleges, and coaching institutes, drawing students from across the hill state and neighbouring regions. It provides a high-visibility stage for political engagement with the youth demographic.

Policy Backdrop

Education access and quality have been recurring political fault lines in Uttarakhand, where youth out-migration in search of better schooling and employment remains a persistent concern. Gandhi and the Indian National Congress have consistently positioned the party as a champion of equitable education, pointing to the Right to Education Act, 2009 — enacted during the UPA government — which mandated free and compulsory schooling for children aged 6 to 14.

The Congress has also been a vocal critic of the National Education Policy 2020, raising objections on grounds of federalism and the risk of reduced access for marginalised communities. Live student interactions of this kind allow Gandhi to amplify those concerns directly through youth voices rather than parliamentary floor speeches.

Stakeholders and Impact

The primary audience for #ChhatronKiGoonj is students and young voters in Uttarakhand, a state where education infrastructure gaps and limited local employment opportunities shape political sentiment. By holding the session in Dehradun, Gandhi's team targeted a concentration of enrolled students and aspirants preparing for competitive examinations.

For the Indian National Congress, such events serve a dual purpose: building grassroots connect with first-time and young voters while generating a documented opposition record on education policy that can be cited in parliamentary debates and campaign materials.

What's Next

State-level education budget allocations in Uttarakhand and any parliamentary debate on the implementation of NEP 2020 provisions will be closely watched in the wake of this outreach. Gandhi's team is expected to use the student inputs gathered during the live session to sharpen the Congress party's legislative and campaign positions on school access, teacher vacancies, and higher-education funding in hill states.