India's Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has resigned after 37 days of student protests. While resigning, Dharmendra Pradhan wrote- The situation prevailing at Jantar Mantar. This threatens the unity and integrity of the country. He further said that in order to ensure that the future of the youth is not ruined and they do not get entangled in legal complications, I have decided to resign. Dharmendra Pradhan is the first minister in the 12 years of the Modi government who has had to resign under the pressure of protests.
Pradhan was considered a strong minister in the Modi cabinet. Was a minister in Pradhan government since 2014. Before education, Pradhan was the minister of important departments like petroleum and steel. However, NEET paper leak After the controversy, his position in the cabinet weakened and ultimately he had to leave the chair.
1. Students and opposition were adamant- The cockroach Janata Party, which was leading the protest at Jantar Mantar, was adamant on Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation. On Friday, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka from CJP had arrived for talks with central government ministers JP Nadda and Jitendra Singh. Both of them made it clear that the protest would end only when Dharmendra Pradhan resigns.
Here, the opposition also opened a front against Dharmendra Pradhan. While holding a press conference with the protesting students outside 10 Janpath on Saturday, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi said – There will be no compromise with Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation. The protest is not going to end until the government resigns.
2. Ruckus from house to street- Protests were continuously increasing both on the streets and in Parliament. The proceedings of the Parliament had started from July 20, but in the last 5 days, the proceedings of the Parliament could not run smoothly even for a single day. There was uproar every day on the issue of Dharmendra Pradhan, due to which both Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha came to a standstill.
At the same time, anger among the public was also continuously increasing. This protest from Delhi was spreading to different parts of the country. In Bihar, chaos was seen in big cities like Patna and Siwan on Saturday. Protests by students have also started in Maharashtra and UP.
There is BJP government in all these states. In such a situation, the central government was in no mood to take any risk.
3. Couldn't control the damage- NEET paper was leaked on 3rd May. Dharmendra Pradhan could not handle this controversy properly. Initially the protests were ignored at the government level. Later, when the uproar escalated, Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself had to come forward for damage control. Modi announced making strict laws. He appealed to the students by making a video.
There was no statement from Dharmendra Pradhan in the whole matter. In this whole uproar, he was completely cut off from the students, due to which he had to suffer the consequences.
4. Stubborn attitude, cut off from students- This is the first time in the Modi cabinet that a minister has been removed after protests. Dharmendra Pradhan has resigned for the first time in 12 years. One reason for Pradhan's resignation is his stubborn attitude. After the NEET paper leak, Pradhan did not talk to the student leaders.
In February 2025, when farmers announced a big demonstration in Chandigarh, the then Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan himself reached Chandigarh with his team. He resolved the entire dispute there through talks.
5. Allegation of negligence- NEET paper was leaked in 2024 also. At that time also Dharmendra was the Prime Minister of Education. Government announced paper leak. A committee was formed under the chairmanship of ISRO scientist Radhakrishnan. The job of the committee was to give suggestions so that paper leaks could be stopped.
Radhakrishnan Committee gave its suggestion to stop paper leaks, but it was not fully implemented. Apart from this, the blame for the negligence of NTA (National Testing Agency) also fell on Pradhan. Ultimately he had to resign from his post.
