Before Dharmendra Pradhan's exit, Centre offered portfolio change; CJP rejected it

Sources said the Centre offered the CJP the option of changing Dharmendra Pradhan's portfolio instead of seeking his removal. The delegation rejected the proposal, insisting that Pradhan's resignation was the only acceptable outcome.Union Minister JP Nadda with MoS Jitendra Singh and CJP Spokespersons Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, during a joint press conference after Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned from the Union Cabinet. (PTI)The Cockroach Janata Party delegation that met Union Ministers JP Nadda and Jitendra Singh on Saturday rejected an offer from the Centre to change Dharmendra Pradhan’s portfolio instead of removing him from the Cabinet altogether, sources told India Today.The government’s negotiators argued that removing a minister from office or changing their portfolio was entirely the Prime Minister’s prerogative.However, the CJP rejected the proposal outright and made it clear that it would accept no alternative to Education Minister Pradhan’s resignation.On Monday, Pradhan received a hero’s welcome from NDA leaders in Parliament, in a visible show of support for the former Education Minister, who resigned on Saturday amid nationwide protests over the NEET paper leak. At the same time, Opposition leaders led by Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra held a protest over the alleged use of excessive force against students during the demonstrations.The confrontation between the Opposition and the NDA took place as Parliament was set to take up the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026, which seeks to tighten the country’s anti-paper leak law in the wake of the NEET controversy. BJP MPs assembled at the Makar Dwar entrance before Pradhan’s arrival and waited there to receive him. When he entered the Parliament complex, party colleagues escorted him inside, greeted him and presented him with a ceremonial cap as a gesture of solidarity.On the other hand, Opposition leaders staged their protest over what they alleged was excessive force used against students during the nationwide protests.Raising the slogan “Shiksha Chori” (theft of education), they asked Union Home Minister Amit Shah to apologise for what they described as police brutality against peaceful protesters.The political stand-off unfolded as Parliament prepared to discuss the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026.The proposed law is aimed at strengthening measures against paper leaks after the NEET controversy, which led to Pradhan’s resignation and had become a central demand of the Cockroach Janta Party-led movement.Meanwhile, as Pradhan walked into a grand welcome, Congress MP Jairam Ramesh, who had vociferously demanded his resignation until a day earlier, approached him and expressed sympathy after he eventually stepped down.“It happens,” the Congress leader told him. “Nothing happened,” Pradhan retorted, before adding, “I am a street fighter, not an AC-room activist.”- EndsPublished By: Sayan GangulyPublished On: Jul 28, 2026 08:48 IST