Beneath the statue of Dr BR Ambedkar inside the Parliament complex, Azad Samaj Party chief Chandrashekhar Azad – the Member of Parliament from Uttar Pradesh’s Nagina – spent two nights under a tarp, wrapped in a white raincoat from time to time, as heavy rain lashed the capital. Behind him, handwritten placards demanding education reforms and accountability over alleged paper leaks fluttered in the wind.
Images and videos of the MP’s rain-soaked protest spread rapidly across social media, drawing huge scores of views and thousands of likes, shares and comments as supporters hailed his overnight sit-in as a symbol of solidarity with protesting students.
Azad, who began the dharna late Monday night, told The Indian Express Tuesday that he was compelled to act after watching videos of police action against students during the Cockroach Janta Party’s Parliament march that saw thousands of protesters storming the Jantar Mantar and the roads close to the Parliament on July 20, the day when the Monsoon session of the Parliament also initiated. The march also saw scenes of violence, assault and lathi-charge being unleashed on the protesters in massive numbers.
In a post on X announcing the protest, Azad wrote, “Whenever oppression begins to cross its limits, that is precisely when the sun of change starts to rise. The brutal treatment meted out today to children and young girls at Jantar Mantar has shaken me to my core.”
“It is with this pain and a resolve to safeguard democratic values that, starting today, I am sitting on a dharna beneath the statue of the most revered Baba Saheb in the Parliament House complex”, he added.
ज़ुल्म जब भी हद से आगे बढ़ने लगता है,
वहीं से बदलाव का सूरज निकलने लगता है।आज जंतर-मंतर पर बच्चों और बच्चियों के साथ जिस प्रकार का बर्बरतापूर्ण व्यवहार किया गया, उसने मन को गहराई तक झकझोर दिया। मैंने जलियांवाला बाग का वह दौर नहीं देखा, लेकिन आज जो दृश्य सामने आए, उन्होंने… pic.twitter.com/iaLOkDTv5c
— Chandra Shekhar Aazad (@BhimArmyChief) July 20, 2026
Another post early Tuesday morning read, “Where the oath of the Constitution was taken, today I sit at the very same place to save the honor of the Constitution. I am fulfilling my duty against the atrocities committed on the innocent.”
जहाँ संविधान की शपथ ली, आज वहीं संविधान का सम्मान बचाने बैठा हूँ।
मासूमों पर हुए अत्याचार के विरुद्ध अपना कर्तव्य निभा रहा हूँ।
जय भीम, जय भारत।#संसद_मार्च #जंतर_मंत्र pic.twitter.com/J2ENfzZdNP— Chandra Shekhar Aazad (@BhimArmyChief) July 21, 2026
Speaking to The Indian Express, Azad said he reached the Parliament complex around 11 pm after watching videos from Jantar Mantar and the protest march.
“I returned home around 8:30 or 9 pm, but there was no network. Around 10 pm, I started watching videos. When I saw videos of young women students screaming and the way the police had treated them, I could not remain silent,” he said.
Describing the night-long protest, Azad said heavy rain prevented him from sleeping. “I came here at 11 pm last night. It rained heavily all night. I had to battle nature too. I couldn’t sleep because of the rain, which continued until around 9 or 10 this morning.”
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Authorities used ‘excessive force’ on students
“Female students were beaten. Their arms and legs were broken, their heads were injured. Pellet guns and rubber bullets were used. Tear gas was fired. Lathis were used. They were kicked. Their clothes were torn,” Azad alleged, adding that videos showed “even when someone stood before the police with folded hands, ten people were beating him.”
The MP argued that the confrontation could have been avoided had the government engaged with protesters earlier.
“The protest has been going on for 30 days. Sonam has been on a hunger strike for over 20 days… Why didn’t the government talk to them then? Why only yesterday, after students had reached Parliament?” he asked.
Pradhan should resign on ‘moral’ grounds
While students have demanded Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation, Azad said the issue went beyond one individual.
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“Dharmendra Pradhan should resign on moral grounds because, in my view, 22 students lost their lives because of these failures. But even after his resignation, if the system isn’t fixed, things will only worsen. I want systemic reform,” he said.
Azad also questioned the government’s decision to deploy Air Force aircraft for transporting examination papers. “We are now having to use Air Force aircraft to transport examination papers. That means all the agencies below have failed. This indicates a collapse of the system. The government must explain why that has happened,” he said.
‘Fighting from within’
Azad said his protest inside Parliament was meant to represent students who could not enter the high-security complex.
“If they are fighting outside, then I will fight for them inside Parliament. Students cannot enter Parliament due to security restrictions. But I can fight for them from within. No one can stop me. I am ready to fight it alone. I will do whatever it takes. ”
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Rejecting suggestions that the agitation was politically motivated, he said the issue was deeply personal. “I am not afraid of storms, rain, bullets or lathis because the youth for whom I am fighting are the backbone of this country. I do not want the nation’s backbone to weaken. I do not want their future to be destroyed.”
Throughout Tuesday, Azad continued posting updates on X. Sharing a video purportedly showing police action on protesters, he wrote that Delhi Police’s motto of “Shanti, Seva, Nyaya” had become “an irony” after the alleged assault on women students. Quoting poet Dushyant Kumar in another post, he added, “My aim is not just to create an uproar, my effort is that this state of affairs should change.”
दिल्ली पुलिस का आदर्श वाक्य ‘शांति, सेवा, न्याय’ है, लेकिन कल जंतर-मंतर पर वर्दीधारी द्वारा मासूम बेटियों की अस्मिता पर किया गया हमला इस आदर्श वाक्य को विडंबना बना देता है। pic.twitter.com/URB30veGkU
— Chandra Shekhar Aazad (@BhimArmyChief) July 21, 2026
Rashtriya Loktantrik Party chief Hanuman Beniwal also visited Azad’s protest site and said the government “will have to account to the country for every single lathi that was swung on the youth,” adding that “dictatorship is not acceptable in a democracy.”