Students are India's future, Modi is past; past can never fight future: Rahul Gandhi

NEW DELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said that students are the future of India while Narendra Modi is the past, and the past can never fight the future.

Speaking to the media after meeting a group of protesting students at his residence, including a young girl who had injured her leg, Gandhi said their demand for the ouster of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan is non-negotiable, and nothing short of it will be acceptable.

Claiming that he had heard that a section of the Union Cabinet is suggesting moving Pradhan to another ministry, Gandhi said any such move will be of no help.

“The demand of the students is to sack Dharmendra Pradhan, and that is non-negotiable,” he said.

“There are three non-negotiable demands (of the students). Dharmendra Pradhan, who is corrupt, incompetent and misaligned, must be sacked,” Gandhi said.

The Congress leader also said that he told the students that no amount of pressure by the Centre can force their removal from the protest site at Jantar Mantar.

Terming the students the future of the country, he said Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the past and the “past can never fight the future”.

“I told the students not to worry. No amount of strength can move them from there (Jantar Mantar). They can shut down (internet) and intimidate, but the students will not go away,” Gandhi said.

The remarks come amid raging protests in the capital led by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), demanding reforms in the examination system and the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan over the NEET paper leak, among others.