A united Opposition, led by Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi, went to Gandhi Smriti on Thursday, and paid tribute to students who died by suicide over the NEET paper leak. They reiterated that the entire Opposition stands behind the demands of the students.Opposition MPs were first called to Rahul’s 5, Sunehri Marg residence, where they held a meeting during which the Leader of Opposition (LoP) proposed that the Parliamentarians visit Tees January Marg, where Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated. Following consensus among MPs, Rahul led them to the Gandhi Smriti on a bus.At the memorial, Rahul and other Opposition MPs paid homage to the deceased students with folded hands and later sang the national anthem.Rahul carried a copy of the Indian Constitution while JMM MP Mahua Majhi and TMC Parliamentarian Mahua Moitra were seen holding the national flag.Earlier, police had put up barricades on the Sunehri Bagh Road but later removed them, allowing Rahul and other MPs to proceed.In a post on X, Rahul said that “no one can stop them from standing with the students of India”.“In solidarity with the students, we wanted to take the Opposition MPs to India Gate. But they refused. Then, we wanted to take them to Tees January Marg, Gandhi ji’s assassination spot,” said the Congress leader.Story continues below this ad“They put up…barricades to stop us, preventing our movement. They are doing this drama,” he said, alleging that the government was “scared”.“All of us MPs felt that if the students are on the streets, we should also be on the streets,” said the LoP, in a video from the bus.In another post on X, Rahul said, “Right now, MPs and leaders of the INDIA bloc are peacefully heading to Gandhi Smriti… We go to remember the students we lost…“And we go to stand with the students who lie injured today — beaten for peacefully demanding justice and accountability. India’s students are not alone. The entire Opposition stands with them and their demands.”Earlier, during the meeting at Rahul’s residence, the Opposition MPs deliberated on their strategy to strongly raise the issue of alleged police brutality from the streets to Parliament.Story continues below this adA source said that Rahul is learnt to have addressed the Opposition MPs on how to up the ante on the government on the students’ issues.The leaders present at the LoP’s residence included Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, general secretaries Jairam Ramesh and K C Venugopal, senior leaders P Chidambaram, Pramod Tiwari, K Suresh, Kumari Selja and Priniti Shinde.RJD’s Sanjay Yadav, Sudhakar Singh and Misa Bharti, CPI-M’s John Brittas, RSP’s N K Premachandran, TMC’s Moitra and Saugata Roy, and Samajwadi Party MP Rajeev Rai, among others, were also present. Asad Rehman is with the national bureau of The Indian Express and covers politics and policy focusing on religious minorities in India. A journalist for over eight years, Rehman moved to this role after covering Uttar Pradesh for five years for The Indian Express. During his time in Uttar Pradesh, he covered politics, crime, health, and human rights among other issues. He did extensive ground reports and covered the protests against the new citizenship law during which many were killed in the state. During the Covid pandemic, he did extensive ground reporting on the migration of workers from the metropolitan cities to villages in Uttar Pradesh. He has also covered some landmark litigations, including the Babri Masjid-Ram temple case and the ongoing Gyanvapi-Kashi Vishwanath temple dispute. Prior to that, he worked on The Indian Express national desk for three years where he was a copy editor. Rehman studied at La Martiniere, Lucknow and then went on to do a bachelor's degree in History from Ramjas College, Delhi University. He also has a Masters degree from the AJK Mass Communication Research Centre, Jamia Millia Islamia. ... Read More