Dharmendra Pradhan Offered to Resign Twice Before Government Accepted It: Sources
Sources say the Centre initially rejected the Education Minister's resignation, but a widening student movement and law-and-order concerns eventually led to a change in its decision.
The resignation of former Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has been followed by reports suggesting that he had offered to step down twice before the government eventually accepted his resignation.
According to government sources, Pradhan first expressed his willingness to resign during the NEET paper leak controversy and the ongoing student protests. However, on both occasions, the government reportedly declined his offer, maintaining that the resignation of a minister was not, by itself, a solution to the crisis. Instead, the focus remained on improving the examination system and fixing accountability.
Sources further claimed that Pradhan again raised the issue during a high-level meeting of senior ministers on July 20. At the time, he was reportedly asked to continue overseeing education reforms rather than resign.
The government's position is said to have changed after a second round of talks with the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP), which had been leading the student protests. According to the sources, the organisation warned of another large-scale march similar to its July 20 "Chalo Parliament" protest. Concerns over the expanding demonstrations, injuries during clashes, and the broader law-and-order situation also influenced the government's assessment.
Sources also said that security agencies informed the government about attempts by alleged anti-social and anti-national elements to exploit the protests. They claimed that digital monitoring identified more than 400 social media accounts allegedly linked to coordinated misinformation campaigns, including around 100 Instagram accounts said to be operated from Pakistan. These claims have not been independently verified.
Additionally, sources stated that Delhi Police's Facial Recognition System (FRS) identified around 400 individuals with criminal records near the Jantar Mantar protest site between July 20 and July 24. Some of them were suspected of involvement in incidents of violence and vandalism during the protests.
Following a review of these developments, the government decided that maintaining law and order had become the immediate priority. Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation was subsequently accepted by President Droupadi Murmu, and Union Minister Prahlad Joshi was given additional charge of the Ministry of Education.
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