After stepping down from his cabinet post due to youth protests over competitive examination irregularities, former Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan made a fiery return to Parliament on Monday. He was received thunderously by BJP-backed parliamentarians in traditional caps, stoles and chanting of “Pradhan Zindabad”. He was also confronted by opposition members and told the Congress MP Jairam Ramesh he is a “street fighter” not an “air-conditioned room activist”.
The war of words erupted in the parliamentary complex, as opposition benches welcomed the former minister with loud counter-slogans of “Chor Chor, Paper Chor”. Many were boiling over after Pradhan quit today after a month-long protest by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) over the NEET-UG paper leak issue. When most of the top Congress leaders dismissed his exit— Jairam Ramesh said it happens— Pradhan didn’t let it go. And so, he told the opposition narrative in his words and his political origins and long-standing history of public service over elite political criticism.
The verbal sparring soon erupted into broader ideological attacks. Senior Congress leader Pawan Khera claimed that Pradhan was still viewed with high esteem in political circles for the implementation of certain policy agendas through the education ministry, and public sentiment had exposed the failure of administrative management. Meanwhile, the Congress deputy leader in Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi has criticized new legislative measures by the Modi government to control the anti-paper leak program as cosmetic and without any real intent to reform education in India.
Despite the angry opposition, BJP lawmakers stood strong behind Pradhan, and showed such solidarity as the government introduced the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026 in Lok Sabha. It proposes severe penalties of up to 10 years in prison and fines up to ₹50 lakh, along with a high-powered task force headed by Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani to make sure a leakproof examination system is put in place. Pradhan’s aggressive stand now in monsoon session shows that the ruling party will respond to opposition pressure in a hard way to keep accountability and education reforms at the centre of the political arena.
