Pune: The Pune City Congress on Wednesday staged a protest outside Raj Bhavan, waving black flags to condemn the alleged police lathi charge on student protesters at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi and the reported use of force against Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra during the demonstrations.

The protest was led by Pune City Congress president Prashant Jagtap and city unit chief Deepti Chaudhari. Demonstrators raised slogans demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the handling of the protests and the NEET controversy.

Addressing the gathering, Jagtap criticised the Centre, alleging that despite the government's claims of tackling corruption, incidents such as examination paper leaks and other controversies had occurred during its tenure. He demanded that Prime Minister Modi accept responsibility and seek the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

Jagtap also alleged that while students were protesting peacefully at Jantar Mantar seeking justice, the government responded with police action against them.

Several Congress leaders and party workers, including Neeta Rajput, corporator Avinash Salve, Rafiq Shaikh, Avinash Bagwe, Mahebub Nadaf, Mohsin Shaikh and Lata Rajguru, participated in the protest.