NEW DELHI, OCT 5 (PTI): The Congress on Monday labelled the BJP-led Maharashtra government “anti-tribal” after police allegedly entered the party’s Mumbai headquarters and detained tribal students who had come to Mumbai to stage a protest, with Rahul Gandhi slamming the Fadnavis dispensation for its “injustice”.
In a post in Hindi on X, Gandhi claimed that the students of Maharashtra are tormented by the Fadnavis government’s education system and injustice.
“Tribal students arrived in Mumbai with their demands—some by bus, and some by walking. What are their demands? Basic facilities in tribal ashram schools and hostels. Scholarships. The same things that are the right of every child,” the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha said.
“There was no place to stay in Mumbai, so the Congress accommodated them at Tilak Bhavan. And before this morning—police barged into the Congress office and hauled these children away. Even before the demonstration could begin at Azad Maidan. This is the response those children got, who had walked all the way from Nashik,” Gandhi said.
In Pune, Maharashtra Public Service Commission aspirants are sitting on a satyagraha, he said.
“These demands are not new—I had spoken to Chief Minister Fadnavis about them. Nothing happened then. That’s why these children are on the streets today. I and the Congress party stand with the students of Maharashtra. We will not step back even an inch,” Gandhi asserted.
He also shared a video of his and said the government must accept the demands of the students.
Earlier, Congress general secretary in-charge, communications, Jairam Ramesh said, “Shame on the so-called double engine government in Maharashtra which is clearly Adivasi-virodhi.”
The Congress alleged that police forcibly entered the party’s Maharashtra headquarters, Tilak Bhawan, after midnight and arrested some tribal students who had come from Nashik to stage a protest, along with NSUI members.
State Congress president Harshwardhan Sapkal, in a video statement, warned that party leaders would ‘gherao’ Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’ official residence if the students and NSUI office-bearers were not freed.
The police, however, denied the claims and said no one was arrested from Tilak Bhawan. Deputy Commissioner of Police Manish Kalwaniya said a call was given by protesters to march to Lok Bhawan (governor’s house).
The protesters who were planning to go to Lok Bhawan are being detained from various places, and legal action is being taken, the official said.
“No one was arrested from Tilak Bhawan as is being claimed,” the DCP added.
According to Sapkal, tribal students who had marched from Nashik to Mumbai to protest at Azad Maidan here over their various demands stayed overnight at Tilak Bhawan in Dadar.
He alleged that police personnel entered the Congress headquarters during the night, threatened the students and took some of them into custody, adding that National Students’ Union of India state president Sagar Salunkhe and the Mumbai head of the party’s youth wing were arrested.
“Police entering the Congress headquarters in such an illegal manner and taking action against the students is a sign of high-handedness. The arrested tribal students and NSUI office-bearers should be released immediately,” he said.
Tuesday, October 6, 2026