Anti-Paper Leak Bill: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday launched a scathing attack at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his “unparliamentary” remarks against the Union Government and accused
him of making “false” and “unsubstantiated” claims in the Lok Sabha during the debate on the anti-paper leak bill.
While addressing a press conference, BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra referred to Gandhi’s use of the word “idiot” during the debate and asserted that “none of the students are idiots or andhbhakts.”
He said that BJP respected students and their concerns by introducing the strciter anti-paper leak bill, while alleging that Gandhi had insulted them during his speech.
Patra also claimed that successive governments had failed to tackle the menace of examination paper leaks before 2014.
VIDEO | Delhi: During a press conference, BJP MP Sambit Patra (@sambitswaraj) says, “Time and again, Kiren Rijiju has held up the rule book and pointed out that the word ‘idiot’ is unparliamentary and cannot be used. Yet, despite this, they continue to disregard the rules and… pic.twitter.com/RP4OS88dJh
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) July 29, 2026
“From Independence till 2014, the paper leak issue remained pending. It is the Narendra Modi government that has made the anti-paper leak law more stringent,” he said.
Referring to the controversy over Gandhi’s repeated use of the word “idiot” during his speech, Patra said Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju had repeatedly reminded the Congress leader that the expression was not permitted under parliamentary rules.
“Time and again, Kiren Rijiju held up the rule book and pointed out that the word ‘idiot’ is unparliamentary and cannot be used. Yet, despite this, they continued to disregard the rules and kept repeating the word ‘idiot’,” Patra said.
Targeting the Leader of Opposition, Patra accused the Lok Sabha LoP of misleading Parliament and using language unbecoming of a member of the House.
“Rahul Gandhi lied in the House. He used unparliamentary language,” Patra alleged.
The BJP leader also rejected Gandhi’s allegation that Union Home Minister Amit Shah had authorised firing on student protesters during the Parliament March.
“Rahul Gandhi had no proof for the allegations he made against the Home Minister,” Patra said.
Refuting the Congress leader’s claims, Patra asserted that no bullets were fired during the police action.
“Rahul Gandhi falsely claimed that bullets were fired during the protest at Jantar Mantar. This is all lies. No shots were fired and no order was given,” he said.
Patra further accused Rahul Gandhi of making politically motivated allegations and claimed that the Home Minister was present in Parliament while the Congress MP was speaking.
“Unlike you, the Home Minister does not go on foreign tours secretly. He was present in Parliament when Rahul Gandhi was delivering his speech,” Patra said.
His response came alleged that Home Minister Amit Shah had authorised police excesses against student protesters and that the RSS had “captured” the education system, triggering a massive uproar.
The Congress leader was referring to the crackdown by security forces during the march to Parliament on July 20 during the CJP-led protest on the NEET paper leak issue.
He also claimed that the home minister is not present in the Lok Sabha because he is “scared”. His remark drew objections from the treasury benches.
Gandhi said a conversation with a group of students gave him perspective on how young people view education and knowledge.
“A good starting point would be a conversation I had with some students, young girls, which gave me a very interesting perspective,” he said.
Gandhi said the student also described another category of people who believed they knew 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,” the leader of opposition (LoP) said and used a word, which was objected to as “unparliamentary” by the Chair.
The remark triggered an uproar in the House, with Speaker Birla asking Gandhi to focus on the debate. Rijiju also objected to the use of the “unparliamentary” word. Gandhi said he was attributing the term to a student and was not referring to any member of the House.
Birla said unparliamentary expressions would be expunged from the proceedings.
(With inputs from agencies)
