'We owe them our solidarity': Rahul Gandhi writes to ally Hemant Soren over Jharkhand student protests

TOI News Desk / TIMESOFINDIA.COM / Updated: Aug 17, 2026, 12:03 IST

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Rahul wrote a letter backing the students on protests and urged him to meet the students. (File photos)

NEW DELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has written to Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren, backing students protesting alleged irregularities in state recruitment examinations and expressing "solidarity" with them. Congress party believes that the right to peaceful protest as enshrined in the Constitution of India is one of the central pillars of our democracy. We have, therefore, offered our full support to students protesting paper leaks and irregularities in the education system over the last few months. It is also our belief that the Indian education system has been captured by the RSS and BJP and transformed into a tool for the exploitation and oppression of students. It is no longer the robust knowledge system that it used to be a decade ago," said Rahul in the letter.

I appreciate that the Jharkhand government has begun a dialogue with them through a committee instituted by you. I believe that there is also agreement on several demands raised by the students. However, the protests continue, and some students remain on an indefinite hunger strike," he added.

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