The Congress also announced plans to expand its ' Chhatron ki Goonj' programme, which has been used by Rahul Gandhi to interact with students, to nearly 800 cities across the country. ‘Modi govt never had time to listen to youth’Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, in his opening remarks at the CWC, set the agenda for youth outreach, accusing the Narendra Modi government of "destroying" students' future."

The anger that has arisen among the youth across the country is not a sudden or one-day phenomenon. This government has never had the time to listen to them; instead, it has consistently sought temporary measures to sidestep the issues.

Consequently, they have been forced to take to the streets," Kharge said in his CWC speech. The CWC passed a resolution expressing its “deep distress” over the plight of the youth and accusing the Modi government of betraying young people."

Over the past decade, paper leaks have assumed epidemic proportions, with at least 152 cases of paper leaks reported since 2014. The recent cancellation and re-conduct of the NEET examination alone resulted in at least 26 student suicides, while more than 90 other students have lost their lives for similar reasons over the past five years," the CWC resolution said."

Young people are bearing the greatest brunt of unemployment, and with 12 years having passed and opportunities shrinking, their circumstances continue to worsen. Unemployment among educated youth has now become a crisis of systemic government failure," it said.

The CWC resolution also targeted Prime Minister Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah for staying away from Parliament and not answering questions on these alleged “serious failures.” How CJP protest surprised political partiesThe Congress recalibration follows the CJP protest, which started on June 6 and put all political parties in a Catch-22 situation.

When the protest started, most of the mainstream parties stayed away. Then activist Sonam Wangchuk joined and amplified the agitation with an indefinite fast starting June 28.

The initial days of his fast saw a largely muted response from most of the political parties. But the dynamics changed on July 20 - the opening day of the Monsoon session of Parliament - when the protesters went ahead with their “Sansad Chalo” march.

The police crackdown on protesters catapulted the protest into a national concern and gave the opposition parties a weapon to attack the government. Congress forced to actThe Congress, which till then remained largely away from the CJP movement - focusing instead on Rahul Gandhi’s “Chhatron ki goonj” programmewas forced to act proactively to ensure it was not missing in action.

So, on July 21, Congress leaders were invited to party president Mallikarjun Kharge's residence -- 10 Rajaji Marg -- to wish him on his birthday. Once they all assembled there, they marched to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's residence at Lok Kalyan Marg and staged a sit-in protest there against the alleged brutality committed against students during the Cockroach Janata Party's march to Parliament.

The surprise sit-in led by Rahul, Kharge and Priyanka sent the government into a tizzy. It first tried to persuade the leaders to vacate the sensitive site.

But when that did not work, police moved in to clear the protesters. This was the Congress’s first direct attempt to take a lead on the students’ protest.

However, the effort fizzled out as the Modi government relented on July 25 and accepted CJP’s demand for Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation. The Congress then shifted focus to the issue of police brutality against the student protesters on July 20 and trained its guns on Union home minister Amit Shah.

It unleashed a relentless campaign inside and outside Parliament seeking Amit Shah’s resignation over the alleged use of pellet guns against protesters, which eventually led to the session washout. Rahul backs Jharkh and protestersWhen students in Jharkh and followed the Jantar Mantar template and began a hunger strike against alleged irregularities in examinations conducted by the Jharkh and Public Service Commission (JPSC) and Jharkh and Staff Selection Commission (JSSC), Rahul Gandhi went public with his support for the protesting students, despite the Congress being part of the state government.

Rahul wrote a letter to Jharkh and chief minister Hemant Soren, a Congress ally, urging him to personally meet representatives of students protesting irregularities in state recruitment examinations and address their remaining concerns. PollWhat key issue should political parties prioritize to appeal to the youth?

Job creationEducation reformHealthcare accessClimate change action3k+ users shared opinion today 5k+ users already voted today Share OpinionThe former Congress chief called the youth “India’s future” and said: “We owe them our solidarity and support at this moment of crisis. Please do your utmost to hear them out and take appropriate action towards the resolution of this issue."

Days later, the Jharkh and government accepted most of the students’ demands, and the protest ended. It’s a different matter that the protesting students may feel high and dry as the Jharkh and high court put a stay on the government’s decision to cancel all previous competitive exams.

Congress follows CJP in RajasthanWith the CJP shifting focus on Rajasthan government schools, the state unit of the Congress was quick to react and take to the streets in support of the students. When a team of CJP was attacked outside a school, the state Congress quickly condemned the incident.

Leader of opposition in state assembly Tika Ram Jully denounced the use of violence, stating that the public has a right to know the status of local educational facilities." This is wrong.

I condemn this. There should be no violence.

The condition of schools should come to light. There is no place for such violence in India.

People must present their views in a non-violent manner. Schools are in bad condition; they want to hide it and cover up their sins.

They won't be able to do it," Tika Ram Jully said. The state Congress leaders also slammed a recent state government order restricting unauthorised entry, media coverage, and filming on public school campuses, perhaps aimed at restricting the entry of CJP teams in state government schools.

Now this is a clear change in stance, as far as the Congress is concerned. For those who remember, the Congress, for a long time, distanced itself from the CJP protest at Jantar Mantar.

Congress’s course correctionClearly, the Congress strategy in Rajasthan is part of the party’s course correction after the Jantar Mantar episode. The Congress realises the importance of youth support and is trying to prioritise the issues that catch the imagination of young people.

The CWC has laid out a roadmap for expanding the party’s GenZ outreach. The party has a government in four states, and this provides it with a great opportunity to showcase its intent in doing something different for the youth.

Will they be able to do it? Well, we will have to wait and see.

Hayoun, a plumber, has said he beat and pinned down the co-pilot after breaking into the cockpit and then brought the aircraft under control.