‘If PM cared, he should have fired you long ago…’: Rahul Gandhi slams Dharmendra Pradhan | Today’s news
Reacting strongly to Dharmendra Pradhan’s remarks on the NEET-CBSE row, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said personal attacks against him will not absolve the education minister. Gandhi accused Pradhan of trying to divert attention from the issue instead of addressing students’ concerns.
Earlier, Pradhan had alleged that the Congress leader was politicizing the issue, saying that Gandhi was “frustrated” and opposed to India’s technological progress.
Read also | NEET Abolished: So-called ‘amrit kaal’ has turned into ‘vish kaal’, says Gandhi
“Dharmendra Pradhan ji, you can attack me all you want, but it will not absolve you of your crimes. Nor will it stop me from demanding answers for 18.5 million children,” Gandhi said in a post on X.
Gandhi raised a series of questions, asking why the CBSE OSM contract was given to COEMPT – “a company already mired in controversy under its old name Globarena?”
“At whose behest was this done? Why were no background checks done? What is the connection between the COEMPT leadership and the Modi government?” asked the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha.
“Either you ran a background check and went ahead anyway – or you didn’t run it at all. Either way, you’re complicit,” his post read.
Read also | Dharmendra Pradhan writes to states regarding exam arrangements
Gandhi argued that if the Prime Minister really cared about the situation, he should have fired Pradhan long ago for jeopardizing the future of countless students.
In a post on X, Congress president Jairam Ramesh said: “Arrogance and political dramabaazi is the best Mantri Pradhan can come up with, even amidst the chaos he has created for thousands of Indian students and the utter incompetence he has shown as a minister.”
He noted that Pradhan was now training his guns on the Leader of the Opposition as he was not satisfied with slandering the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education.
“Even though his own ministry is a den of corruption and mismanagement. His thick skin and false bravado are a perfect fit for Modi-Shah politics: utterly shameless and disinterested in governance.”
Ramesh alleged that PM Modi’s “patronage” was responsible for Pradhan’s arrogance.
“The responsibility for the NEET-CBSE debacle is equally on Pradhan Mantri who protected Mantri even after the 2024 NTA debacle,” Ramesh said.
What did Pradhan say?
Responding to Gandhi’s allegation of irregularities in the CBSE exams, Pradhan said the CBSE had responded in accordance with the Government of India’s procurement policy. He assured that appropriate action will be taken if any irregularities are found.
“But as far as Rahul Gandhi is concerned, he seems to have reached a different state of mind. He seems frustrated due to constant electoral defeats. He was against SIR, he was against EVMs and he was against Digital India. He doesn’t seem to stand behind the scientific progress of India,” Pradhan said.
Taking responsibility on behalf of the government for any “inconvenience” caused, Pradhan insisted that now was not the time for politics.
Read also | Rahul Gandhi slams Modi, demands judicial inquiry into CBSE OSM disputes
“Right now, the most important thing is that the psychological burden of these students and examinees does not increase any further. We appeal to everyone so that no words or behavior add stress to them,” said the minister.
On Wednesday, Gandhi alleged that the CBSE examination results were plagued with “massive irregularities” and called for an independent judicial inquiry and the setting up of a special investigation team (SIT) to uncover the truth behind the “whole scam”.
He also alleged that a firm with a dubious past in Telangana was awarded the contract by CBSE for digital evaluation of answer sheets.
