Bhubaneswar: Senior BJP leader and Sambalpur MP Dharmendra Pradhan has broken his silence on his resignation as Union Education Minister, attributing the decision to attempts by certain elements to mislead members of Generation Z during the widespread protests over the NEET paper leak controversy.
Speaking to students and teachers at GM University in Sambalpur on Saturday, exactly two weeks after stepping down on July 25 amid massive demonstrations at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar, Dharmendra described the younger generation as “our children” and emphasised that he held no personal stake in retaining the ministerial post. He noted that around two crore children are born in India each year, resulting in some 20 crore young people over the past decade whose aspirations would help transform the nation into a “Vishwa Guru”. “Gen Z is our children. Some people attempted to mislead them. I had no personal issues then. At least two crore children are born in India every year. During the last 10 years, 20 crore children were born. They have aspirations, and they will make India the ‘Vishwa Guru’.”
He revealed that he had personally approached Prime Minister Narendra Modi, sought permission to acknowledge the concerns of the protesting youth, and offered to resign from the Union Council of Ministers so that their grievances would not be exploited for political ends. I met the Prime Minister and requested him to agree to the desire of Gen Z. I told him to allow me to acknowledge this in front of the children. I never staked my personal honour in the matter. The Prime Minister accepted this, and later he himself spoke about it in front of the children.”
In his resignation note, Pradhan had stated that the move was intended to prevent “anti-national forces” from capitalising on the agitation, preserve national unity, and ensure that students’ futures were not entangled in legal complexities, underscoring that it was never a question of individual prestige.
He added that the government had acted promptly after irregularities emerged in the May 3 NEET-UG examination by entrusting the probe to the CBI, cancelling the test, and conducting a re-examination.
Responding to his statement, Congress MP Manish Tewari said, “Dharmendra Pradhan resigned. The reason was that the NEET paper leak exposed many flaws within India’s education system, causing students to mobilise. When they attempted to march towards Parliament on July 20 to express their outrage, they were met with lathi charges, gunfire, pellet guns, and tear gas. This caused the agitation to intensify and stirred youth and students across the country. Therefore, there is a need for serious reflection—specifically by Dharmendra Pradhan—on the flaws that existed in the education system during his tenure as Education Minister and what caused such intense agitation among the youth.”
‘Will never disgrace Odisha’
At another meeting in Rairakhol, the Sambalpur MP also strongly countered the Biju Janata Dal’s “Go Back Dharmendra Pradhan” campaign and dismissed criticism from former Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who he claimed had referred to him in derogatory terms. Calling himself the son of a farmer, Dharmendra asserted that he would continue returning to serve the state, adding that while he served 12 years as a Union Minister with the blessings of Lord Jagannath and Maa Samaleswari, he had never done anything to bring disgrace to the people of Odisha.
His remarks in Rairakhol were delivered from a platform attended by BJD MLA Prasanna Acharya, who Dharmendra noted had encouraged his visit despite ongoing opposition protests.
The BJD mounted a sharp counterattack following the MP’s statements, with Sambalpur district president and former minister Rohit Pujari rejecting allegations that the opposition had defamed the BJP leader. Pujari argued that Dharmendra was defamed by his own party and government due to the handling of the student agitation at Jantar Mantar, where police resorted to lathi-charge and tear gas.
Attributing student suicides and widespread mental distress among millions of examinees to the central government’s missteps, Pujari stated that wrong policies and police excesses were the reasons behind the criticism and his resignation from the cabinet.
