No let up in protests on Day 3 in Mumbai; parties, activists hit streets on exam issues, cop action

MUMBAI: Mumbai was rocked by demonstrations by political parties, activists and students for a third consecutive day on Wednesday over exam irregularities and police crackdown on protesters in Delhi as cops detained agitators and forcibly evicted Congress leaders during a march.

Students, political parties and activists demanded the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over exam irregularities and denounced police "brutality" on protesters and Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) supporters during their march towards Parliament on July 21.

The Congress also protested against the Delhi Police action to remove senior party leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, from outside Prime Minister Narendra Modi's residence in Delhi when they were staging a sit-in over the issue of paper leaks and police crackdown on agitators.

Police stopped senior leaders, including Maharashtra Congress chief Harshwardhan Sapkal, CLP leader Vijay Wadettiwar, and former state minister Naseem Khan, at the Regal Cinema Chowk when they were headed towards the Maharashtra BJP office in south Mumbai.

They were forcibly evicted and taken to Colaba police station in vans, and later released.

Armed with placards, protesters raised slogans such as 'Modi Hato, Desh Bachao and sought the resignation of Pradhan.

On being released by police, Sapkal went to the Congress office at Tilak Bhavan in Central Mumbai and waited for Mumbai BJP president Ameet Satam, who was leading a counter march to the Congress office.

A party office-bearer said Sapkal was waiting for Satam with a copy of the Constitution and a rose, but the BJP's counter march was stopped before reaching the Congress office.

During the day, hundreds of people assembled at multiple locations in Mumbai and protested against the alleged NEET paper leak in violation of the prohibitory orders, leading to detention of several protesters.

According to an official, hundreds of protesters gathered at Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Garden in suburban Chembur amid heavy police deployment. Police detained several protesters, dragging some of them into police vehicles before taking them to the local police station, eyewitnesses alleged.

The protesters in Chembur were carrying placards demanding reforms in the education system and action over the alleged paper leak.

After detaining several protesters, police dispersed the remaining crowd. Some protesters alleged they had been stopped by police while on their way to Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Garden.

Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Aaditya Thackeray and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) leader Amit Thackeray reached the protest site and later visited the police station along with NCP (SP) politician Fahad Ahmad.

Following their intervention, detained protesters were released, sources said.

Ahmad said protesters, after being released by the Chembur police, left for Shivaji Park in Dadar.

"The protesting youth are expressing themselves against what happened in Delhi (crackdown on agitators). They are protesting peacefully. Violence is taking place from the government side. The country has united in the cause (student issues) and this voice needs to reach Delhi. The more the government suppresses the protest, the more it will aggravate," Aaditya Thackeray asserted.

Later, as people converged at Shivaji Park, a delegation of students met MNS president Raj Thackeray.

At Shivaji Park, a woman wearing a burqa was stopped by police personnel while she was protesting. MNS chief Raj Thackeray's wife Sharmila came to her support and sat beside her during the stir.

A large number of people gathered outside Shiv Sena Bhavan in Dadar and raised slogans against Pradhan and PM Modi.

Police maintained a heavy deployment at all protest sites to prevent any untoward incident.

The Shiv Sena (UBT) staged protests in different parts of Mumbai, including outside its headquarters, to press for its demand for Pradhan's resignation.

This was the third consecutive day of protests by the Uddhav Thackeray-led outfit, which has announced open support to the CJP-spearheaded movement and its demands, including accountability over alleged exam paper leaks, resignation of Pradhan, and an overhaul of India's education system.

The main demonstration of the Opposition party was held outside its headquarters, the Shiv Sena Bhavan, in Dadar and it was joined by students. The agitators denounced the alleged police brutality against CJP supporters during their 'Sansad Chalo' march in New Delhi on July 20.

A separate protest was organised by the MNS at Azad Maidan in south Mumbai against "lack of accountability" of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) ruled by the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance. However, much of the MNS stir turned into protest demanding Pradhan's resignation.

Earlier, talking to reporters, state Congress president Sapkal alleged the Modi government had undermined democratic values and failed to address recurring exam irregularities, including the alleged NEET paper leak in May, which triggered a protest and hunger strike by climate activist Sonam Wangchuk at Jantar Mantar in Delhi.

Sapkal slammed the treatment meted out to Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and other party leaders during a dharna outside PM Modi's residence in Delhi on July 21.

Rahul and other Congress leaders were detained and forcibly moved from the protest outside the PM's house by the Delhi Police.

Sapkal demanded that PM and Union Home Minister Amit Shah apologise over the incident.

The MPCC chief sought the resignation Pradhan, a discussion in Parliament on irregularities in competitive exams, and the immediate withdrawal of FIRs registered against protesting students.

Mumbai saw multiple protests on Monday and Tuesday also.