Mallikarjun Kharge
Mallikarjun Kharge, the leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha and president of the Congress, criticised PM Modi on Thursday for his late-night Instagram speech to students during the paper leak controversy.
He claimed that the government only took action after widespread protests compelled it to.
During the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026 debate, Kharge asserted that the Opposition had been calling for a more robust anti-paper leak law since 2024, but the Centre had disregarded their recommendations.
Kharge said, "We have been requesting to strengthen the anti-paper leak bill since 2024, but the government did not listen to us."
He claimed that due to the escalation in public pressure, the administration was now forced to revise the previous law, which had been introduced hastily. He said, "Earlier bill was brought in haste, but now the govt has to amend the bill."
Kharge questioned the legislation's timing, claiming that rather than addressing the underlying reason of recurrent paper leaks, the Bill was intended to calm public outrage.
"Just to cool the current atmosphere and cool our youths, this bill has been brought," he said. He continued , "This bill is not going to solve any problem."
He asserted that the nationwide student protests had compelled the Centre to take action. He also claimed that the government was only working to further its own political agenda.
"Just to save their seats, this bill has been brought not to solve the problems of the youth," he said.
Meanwhile, He questioned Union Home Minister Amit Shah's silence to the police suppression of the CJP demonstration. The Congress MP questioned Shah and PM Modi about their absence from the parliament session while speaking in the upper house following the introduction of the anti-paper leak bill. Kharge asked the house if someone had "stitched" the home minister's mouth because he had remained silent over the security crackdown on demonstrators at the Cockroach Janta Party's "Chalo Sansad" march on July 20.
He remarked, "You are the home minister. This was happening in Delhi. And yet despite all this happening, you did not open your mouth. Has someone stitched your mouth shut?" Following Kharge's statement, JP Nadda and other BJP leaders in the house objected and called the statement "unparliamentary."
Kharge's comments for Amit Shah coincide with the Congress's ongoing concerns about the home minister's silence on the use of "brutal force" against Jantar Mantar students and his absence from the Parliamentary session.