Grop pic with MPs, reposting PM Modi's video: What Pradhan is doing amid ‘resign’ chorus by CJP, Cong-led Oppn

Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan has not said anything directly on the Cockroach Janta Party's (CJP) persistent demand for his resignation, particularly since the protests grew wider after police action during the July 20 Parliament march called by the CJP.People in Kolkata gather in solidarity with Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protests held at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi and elsewhere, demanding the resignation of education minister Dharmendra Pradhan over exam paper leaks, on July 24, 2026. The placard here asks if the "resignation paper, too, leaked". (Reuters Photo)Barring an attack on Rahul Gandhi and his protest outside the PM house, Pradhan has mainly communicated by re-sharing on X Prime Minister Narendra Modi's promises of exam system reforms to prevent future paper leaks. Pradhan has not made a promise of his own.Meeting home state MPsHis activity in the past week has included showing that he held a meeting with fellow MPs from his home state of Odisha. This meeting came on July 22, and Pradhan on X posted a photo showing 15 MPs, including himself. The BJP has 20 Lok Sabha members from the eastern state where Pradhan was once seen as a potential chief minister, though he remains at the Centre as the party chose Mohan Charan Majhi in 2024.He held the meeting with MPs during the adjournment of the Parliament session over the Opposition's demand that he be sacked and the NEET paper leak and other issues be discussed by abandoning all other business. The Parliament session remains disrupted as the government so far has not relented.On his meeting with MPs amidst this, Pradhan said on X that it was about “various developmental issues of the state, along with the need for special assistance in the education of children affected by learning disability”. Some comments on the X post saw it as his “show of strength”. The same day, Pradhan delivered a long address at a conclave of education ministers from states and union territories. He did not mention papers leaks in his nearly 30-minute speech. This was his first public appearance since the protests intensified on Monday at Jantar Mantar and elsewhere with the ‘Sansad Chalo’ march. Pradhan’s X handle beamed the speech live. He spoke of matters like the importance of native languages, the National Education Policy and the National Curriculum Framework (NCF), and other such policy issues.Attack on Rahul ‘manufacturing confrontation’A day before that is when he, even if indirectly, made a post by himself on the issues being raised around paper leaks — framing it as an attack instead. He claimed Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi was “shamelessly exploit(ing)… students as political tools to manufacture disruption” during the Monsoon Session of Parliament.He said Rahul Gandhi and the Congress, besides other Opposition parties, “chose to stage a dharna outside the Hon'ble Prime Minister's residence, causing inconvenience to the public and disregarding established security protocols”.He also said the government has conveyed its readiness for “a comprehensive discussion”. He accused the Congress of choosing “political spectacle over democratic debate”.Rahul Gandhi, he alleged, was “manufacturing confrontation”, and asserted that “every genuine avenue for discussion has been opened”.“Our Government remains 100% committed to discussing NEET and addressing every genuine concern of our youth on the floor of the House… We owe our students more than outrage. We owe them answers, reforms and accountability. That is exactly what our government remains committed to delivering,” he wrote.That remains his only recent communication, of his own, on the issues being raised at Jantar Mantar and by Rahul Gandhi. Last month, when the CJP protest was still nascent, he had termed the protesters “B-team of terrorists” in a TV interview.On the day of the CJP's ‘Sansad Chalo’ march, he re-shared PM Modi's address from the gates of Parliament in which the PM took a “not a young man aged 56” dig apparently at Rahul Gandhi. Later that day Pradhan re-shared a couple of posts by his ministry's official handle on the National Education Policy's (NEP) features. In between, he reportedly met Union home minister Amit Shah, but details on that did not emerge.On the eve of the CJP march, on July 19, Pradhan met one of the toppers of the NEET-UG that was re-held. Panshul Bansal, ranked 2, later spoke in interviews about how he used the time between the leaked-thus-cancelled May 3 exam and the re-exam in June to prepare more “rather than protest”.Promises repostedOver the past two days, as PM Modi started communicating directly on the issue of paper leaks (not naming CJP or others raising the demand), Pradhan has re-shared his posts.On July 23, Modi first made a text-only post. Re-shared by Pradhan, it said, “Nothing is more important than the welfare and future of our youth! We have decided to set up fast-track courts to ensure swift and stringent punishment for those involved in paper leaks. Have directed the concerned authorities and officials to take all necessary steps in this regard. This continues our series of steps for safeguarding the interests of students. Those who try to harm the future of our youth will not be spared.”Modi made the same promise — plus that the BJP-led NDA government will be bringing in a law on this — in a selfie video that many noted for its “Gen-Z aesthetic” as well, just before midnight. Pradhan reposted it.As of 5 pm on July 24, Pradhan's other recent posts included sharing good wishes on festivals and expressing condolences at the demise of a prominent freedom fighter against the British Raj from his home state.Two other members of the Modi cabinet — health minister JP Nadda and MoS (PM's office) Jitendra Singh — met CJP spokespersons Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, who submitted a letter saying their demands remain non-negotiable.The government has sought time till Saturday afternoon to come back with a reply, it is learnt.Son of former Union minister, longtime RSS-ABVP connectionPradhan, 57, currently represents the Odisha's Sambalpur constituency in the Lok Sabha. Born to former Union minister Debendra Pradhan, he holds a master’s degree in anthropology from Utkal University and began his political career as a student activist with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, student wing of the BJP's parent body RSS, in the early 1980s.Having been a member of Odisha assembly and both Houses of Parliament, his national profile rose as he served as oil minister from 2014 to 2021, and was moved to the education portfolio in 2021.