Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi triggered an uproar in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday after making remarks while speaking during the debate on the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026. Treasury bench MPs protested his comments, while Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the language used by Gandhi was unparliamentary under the rules.
Rahul Gandhi recounts conversation with protesting students
During his speech, Rahul Gandhi spoke about his recent conversations with students who took part in protests at Jantar Mantar.
Recollecting his conversation with a student, Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi says, “She said the student wears the truth on his/her chest proudly. I said, what about the other type? She said the other type requires an image. It requires an image and as the image is not true because the idiot is trying to pretend that he is God, he has to create this massive image. I asked her a question, where does the third category go? That of ‘Andhbhakt’. She said, ‘Andhbhakt’ is a person who is absolutely convinced that another idiot is God…”
He said one student shared a perspective on what it means to be a student. “I asked the girl, ‘You told me that you were a student. What does it mean? Do you study in college, or school, or does it mean you read books?’ She gave the most beautiful answer; she said, ‘a student is someone who has an open mind and open heart, someone who right from the beginning accepts that they don’t know anything, student knows that whatever he knows would be superceeded later by new knowledge, student understands that the universe is constantly changing… and so student understands that knowledge is constantly changing,” Gandhi said.
He continued by sharing what the student allegedly told him about another group of people.
“She told me that there is another category of people; they are not students…They are absolutely convinced that they know everything, they believe that the universe is static and they believe that the knowledge emerges from inside them, they believe that they are God, that everything that is to be known is known to them, they are arrogant, they don’t listen, they don’t respect other people’s truth. I said, what do you call these people? She said, ‘I call them idiots’,” he added.
Treasury bench protests over remarks
The word “idiots” led to protests from treasury bench MPs. Gandhi responded by saying, “I did not say anything about you (the government).”
He later added, “The idiot is trying to pretend that he is God,” which led to more protests inside the House.
Gandhi also said, “There are three categories — students, idiot and the ‘Andhabhakt’ who follows the idiot.”
Kiren Rijiju calls remarks unparliamentary
Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju objected to Gandhi’s remarks and said the Leader of Opposition had used unparliamentary language.
“Rahul Gandhi is trying to quote a student and saying those unparliamentary words. He is not even naming the students; it’s him who is saying those words. The words that he has used are unparliamentary…I am not saying this; it’s the rule book that is saying this,” Rijiju said.
Debate continues in Lok Sabha
The exchange took place during the discussion on the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026. The remarks led to repeated interruptions and protests from ruling party MPs before the House continued with its proceedings.
Bureau Report
Leave a Reply