Opposition leaders, including Congress’s Digvijaya Singh and Pramod Tiwari, welcomed Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation. They termed it a ‘victory for democracy’ and a result of youth protests, while targeting the government over exam irregularities.
Opposition leaders on Saturday welcomed the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, with Congress leaders targeting the government over its handling of the education system and alleged irregularities in competitive examinations.
‘Victory for Democracy’: Digvijaya Singh
Congress MP Digvijaya Singh described Pradhan’s resignation as a “victory for democracy” and alleged corruption and mismanagement in the education sector. Speaking to reporters, Singh said, “This is a victory for democracy. I served as the Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Education. There has been so much corruption and mismanagement that I can’t comment on it. Pradeep Joshi, the Chairman of the National Testing Agency (NTA), who is an RSS Pracharak, was wrongly appointed by the then Governor Bhai Mahavir in 2002. I objected in Jabalpur. Then our government fell.”
Singh further alleged that the NTA Chairman should have been among the first officials to step down over the controversies surrounding examinations conducted by the agency. “Then Pradeep Joshi was made the Chairman of the Madhya Pradesh Public Service Commission. While there, he committed a major scandal in professor appointments, which was investigated by Shivraj Singh Chauhan, and he was found guilty. However, the officer who conducted the investigation was transferred. After that, pressure from our people increased, and he was made the Chairman of the Chhattisgarh State Public Service Commission. He committed a scandal there, so he resigned there as well. When he joined the UPSC, he was made a member. He was made the Chairman there. After retiring from there, he became the Chairman of the National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducts the NEET and JEE exams. Since then, the NEET question paper scandal has been exposed. As the Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee, I summoned him to a meeting. I summoned him to give a statement. When I asked him, “How did this happen while you were here?” Pradeep Joshi replied, “I have no authority, Mr Chairman.” Now, you understand, the NTA Chairman should have been the first to resign. Why wasn’t his resignation accepted? Modi’s statement today is that he has dismissed forty-eight people. The first ones to be dismissed were Dharmendra Pradhan and NTA Chairman Pradeep Joshi, but they weren’t because they are RSS propagators,” Singh told reporters.
‘Beginning of the End of Modi Era’: Pramod Tiwari
Congress MP Pramod Tiwari said Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation reflected growing pressure from India’s youth and opposition. “If I had to say it in one line, I would just say, ‘Modi bows down; it takes the youth of India and Rahul Gandhi to make him bow.” I’ll make it clear, this is a victory for the youth. Otherwise, in 12 years, he had hundreds killed by using sticks on farmers. He is the same one, Modi, who didn’t even talk about resigning, even after atrocities were committed against women. But for the first time, the youth of this country have woken up. From Kashmir to Kanyakumari, when Modi’s intelligence told him, do you remember? He’s been calling at 12 at night lately. Tweet… that means he hasn’t been sleeping all night.I just want to say that this is the beginning of the end of the Modi era, the dictatorial Modi era. Today, the farmers and youth of the country are together ending this dictatorship. I congratulate the youth. I congratulate the entire opposition. I congratulate the leadership of the Congress party for taking a firm step. And I congratulate India. Even if someone is not young, their son or daughter will now be safe,” Tiwari told ANI.
He added, “This corrupt, incompetent minister, Dharmendra Pradhan, I condemn him for the delay in his resignation. Modi ji, what were you thinking? That the youth would bow down? The youth didn’t even bow down in 1942, when your organization RSS, had joined the British. Even then, the same youth won independence for the country.”
Calls to Waive Education Loans
Congress MP Imran Masood alleged that the education system in the country had suffered over the last 12 years and demanded steps to provide relief to students. “The work that has been done to the education system in this country over the last 12 years has undoubtedly ruined the future of students. From nursery to higher education, education has become so expensive that it is becoming beyond the reach of the poor…If the government is sincere about students, if it has even the slightest concern for them, then one thing that can be done most easily, within a single notification, is to immediately waive their education loans,” he told ANI.
Pradhan Cites ‘Interest of Students’ in Resignation
Dharmendra Pradhan, earlier today 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. (ANI)
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