The Indian National Congress (INC) on Saturday said Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation was a “victory for the youth” and vowed to continue its campaign until the country’s education system is reformed.
The party said students’ protests and the Opposition’s efforts had forced the government to act following weeks of demonstrations over examination irregularities.
In a post on X, the official account of the Indian National Congress wrote, “Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation is a victory for the youth, a victory for India’s Gen Z. This victory belongs to those millions of young people who raised their voices across the country to fix the education system. In the face of the youth’s truth, Narendra Modi’s arrogance has been shattered, and his lies have been defeated.”
The party asserted that Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi have been raising the issues of NEET paper leak from the streets to Parliament.
“The youth have forced an incompetent and corrupt Education Minister, Dharmendra Pradhan, to resign. From the very first day of the NEET paper leak, opposition leader Rahul Gandhi and the Congress Party have been fighting–from the streets to Parliament–to deliver justice to the youth. This fight will continue–until the education system is reformed,” it said.
Further, the Congress demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi apologise to the youth for the July 20 police action at Jantar Mantar.
“Narendra Modi will have to apologize for ordering lathis to be used on our youth and for the attacks with pellet guns,” the post read.
This comes after Pradhan announced his resignation, saying he had submitted it to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the interest of students and to ensure that the ongoing protests over examination irregularities were not exploited by “anti-national forces.”
The resignation follows weeks of nationwide protests over alleged irregularities in competitive examinations, with students demanding greater transparency, accountability, and reforms in the examination system.
Further, Congress MP Jebi Mather welcomed Pradhan’s resignation, calling it a “victory of democracy, students, and the united Opposition.”
She said the resignation reflected the voice of lakhs of students across the country who had demanded accountability over the examination controversy.
Speaking to ANI in Thiruvananthapuram, Mather said, “This is a victory of democracy. This is a victory of students. This is a victory of opposition unity. This is a victory of Rahul Gandhi. This is a victory of India. This is a victory of all those voices who came together at a defining moment. When the nation realised, when the heartbeat of the nation felt that Dharmendra Pradhan should step down, it became clear that this was the only way to do justice to the lakhs and lakhs of students…It was forced upon Dharmendra Pradhan. I reiterate that this is a victory of democracy, and of all the students and the opposition who spoke in one voice demanding that Dharmendra Pradhan resign. And now, it has happened…”
While Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said it should have happened earlier to avoid violence during student protests.
He said the government was forced to act due to sustained demonstrations and praised the protesters and Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi for their support to the students’ movement.
“At the end, at least I can say that reason has prevailed upon the government. This could have been done much earlier. If it was done much earlier, then this kind of untoward incident could have been avoided. Pellet gun, tear gas, lathi charge, all could have been avoided… Now I think that out of desperation, the government has been compelled to put in the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan… out of desperation, the government has been forced to make the resignation of their own minister. I must salute the demonstrators, their grit and determination. I must salute my leader, Rahul Gandhi, who always stood side by side with them,” Chowdhury told ANI.