India, July 26 -- Gandhi's detention and bleeding nose image energised Congress as Opposition pressure mounted over NEET paper leak.

It was a humid afternoon in Delhi on Tuesday, July 21, when Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, after attending the birthday greetings programme of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, decided to march to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's residence at 7 Lok Kalyan Marg. The sit-in protest over the NEET paper leak issue and his detention, during which he sustained a nose injury that left him bleeding, gained traction and gave party workers new energy to fight across the country.

The march to the Prime Minister's residence was kept secret from all party MPs. After the photo-op at Kharge's resi...