Rahul Gandhi targeted the BJP as well as its ideological mentor RSS over the crisis at Jawaharlal Nehru University.
Rahul Gandhi today led a Congress delegation to the President to record the party's strong protest against the arrest of a JNU student for sedition.
"Nationalism is in my blood. I have seen my family sacrifice again and again and again for this nation. If somebody has said anything against this nation they should be punished according to law, but it is not the government's job to destroy our educational institutions and crush the expression of our students," the Congress vice president told reporters after the meeting.
Mr Gandhi targeted the ruling BJP as well as its ideological mentor RSS or Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh over the crisis at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU).
The Congress, he said, would not stand for the RSS "stopping students from expressing their opinion."
"Across the country RSS is trying to impose a flawed ideology on students, who are the future of this country. Imposing the RSS' dead ideology on students will be the biggest crime," he said.
Mr Gandhi has been attacked by the BJP for supporting JNU students who have demanded the release of Kanhaiya Kumar, the student leader arrested last Friday on charges of sedition for allegedly making anti-national comments at a controversial event held at the university in support of terrorist Afzal Guru, who was hanged in 2013.
BJP president Amit Shah had, in a blog, accused Mr Gandhi of "hobnobbing with anti-national elements."
"Has Rahul Gandhi lent his voice to separatists in the country? Does he want another Partition?" Mr Shah said.