Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday addressing the Lok Sabha said that there are three categories of people students, those who believe they know everything and "andhbhakts".
Participating in the debate on the Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026, Gandhi said an 18-year-old student had explained to him what it means to be a student.
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"The question I asked the girl was that you said you were a student, what does that mean? Does it mean you study in a college, in a school, you read books? She said a student is someone who has an open mind (and) an open heart," said Gandhi.
"A student is someone who accepts that he does not know everything. Whatever he knows will be superseded by new knowledge. He knows the universe is dynamic. He also understands that knowledge is constantly changing. The most important quality, she said, that a student has is humility," Gandhi said.
He then contrasted students with another category of people who, according to him, believe they know everything.
"They are absolutely convinced that they know everything. They believe that the universe is static and they believe that knowledge emerges from inside them. They are arrogant. They don't listen, they don't respect other people's truth," Gandhi said, before using a word that treasury bench members objected to as "unparliamentary".
The remark triggered an uproar in the House. Speaker Om Birla asked Gandhi to confine his speech to the subject under discussion, while Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju objected to the expression. Gandhi clarified that he was quoting a student and not referring to any member of the House. Birla subsequently directed that the word be expunged from the proceedings.
Gandhi then referred to a third category.
"I asked about the third category, andhbhakt. He is absolutely convinced that .. (the other category) is God," he said.
Later in his speech, Gandhi accused Union Home Minister Amit Shah of authorising police action against students during the July 20 march to Parliament over the alleged NEET paper leak, prompting fresh protests from treasury bench members.
Claiming Shah was absent from the House because he was "scared", Gandhi alleged that the home minister had "authorised" the crackdown on student protesters. Speaker Om Birla intervened, saying the discussion was not on the home minister and asked Gandhi to substantiate his allegations. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju demanded an apology, calling the remarks "highly objectionable". The House was adjourned twice amid the uproar.
Ahead of Gandhi's intervention, Kiren Rijiju accused the Congress and other Opposition parties of trying to divert attention from the issue and expressed hope that the Leader of Opposition would address the House on the subject.
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"Such an important Bill is being discussed, but they are trying to divert attention by talking about unrelated issues and politicising it," he said.
Rijiju also criticised Gandhi's political rhetoric, saying, Rahul Gandhi is using all kinds of undemocratic and very abusive language, which is not in keeping with the correct discourse in a parliamentary democracy. One must use civilised and soft language.
"We may differ with each other, but the kind of abusive and demeaning language Rahul ji uses is not good for democracy and not good for our country," the minister said.
The parliamentary discussion comes days after former Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned following widespread protests over the alleged NEET paper leak and concerns over irregularities in the examination system. Following his resignation, President Droupadi Murmu accepted Pradhan's resignation and assigned Union Minister Pralhad Joshi the additional charge of the Ministry of Education.
The resignation has continued to trigger political sparring. On Tuesday, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra termed it "shameful" that BJP MPs welcomed Pradhan in the Parliament complex two days after his resignation "as if he were a superstar". Pradhan was felicitated by party colleagues with a traditional cap and stole as they raised slogans of "Pradhan Zindabad", while Opposition MPs countered with slogans of "Chor, chor, paper chor".
Asked about the felicitation, Priyanka Gandhi said, "Don't you think it is shameful? Everyone saw the circumstances under which Dharmendra Pradhan resigned, but yesterday in the Parliament premises, he was welcomed as if he were a superstar!"
She also alleged that students continued to face harassment. "No one can trust the Modi government, because even today, students are being harassed. I saw some Instagram handles with photographs of women alleging that they did such and such a thing...Do you want to engage in talks to resolve this matter or you are still after the students, wanting to suppress them? This is wrong," she said.
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Earlier this week, Rahul Gandhi had also criticised the BJP for felicitating Pradhan in Parliament.
"Dharmendra Pradhan is, and will always remain, the symbol of corruption and India's ruined education system. It is that very system that took the lives of 26 children and forced lakhs of youth onto the streets. His resignation did not come out of morality - it was forced out of fear of the youth's rage. And today, the BJP is garlanding that same person inside Parliament. This is not an honour--it is a celebration of ruining the futures of lakhs of children. Every student in the country is watching this. And they will remember every face involved in this," Gandhi had said.
The resignation followed weeks of nationwide protests by students demanding accountability and reforms in the examination system, with Opposition parties continuing to target the government over its handling of the controversy and the alleged police action against protesters.
(With PTI inputs)
