In 1997, Dharmendra Pradhan, then ABVP leader, led a student protest against the paper leak in Odisha

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has been in the eye of the storm over alleged irregularities in the NEET-UG examination. The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) has been protesting in New Delhi for over a month, demanding Pradhan’s resignation over the paper leak controversy.

Pradhan, a BJP MP from Odisha’s Sambalpur, was appointed education minister in 2021 after previously holding portfolios including oil, skill development and steel.

As Pradhan continues to face the heat, an old report has resurfaced in which his colleagues recall how the current union minister once led a student protest in Odisha against alleged paper leaks.

Dharmendra Pradhan’s protest against the paper leak

According to a report by The New Indian Express, in 1997, when Pradhan was the national secretary of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), he led a protest against the Odisha government.

“We staged a protest against the Odisha government in front of the secretariat. About 1,500 students joined us there,” Prashant Rout, who was Pradhan’s junior at Utkal University, told the paper, recalling the 1997 Odisha paper leak.

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While the protest was peaceful, the police charged the activists, according to Rout. “We were quite scared. Pradhan was beaten up badly that time. He also had a few fractures,” he recalled.

Pradhan, the son of former BJP leader Debendra Pradhan, who served as a minister of state in AB Vajpayee’s cabinet, entered politics following his father’s footsteps.

He was first elected to the Lok Sabha in 2004 from the Deogarh constituency previously held by his father.

CJP insists on resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan

The CJP, which is leading the student protests against Pradhan, insisted that nothing short of the minister’s resignation was acceptable to them.

CJP leader Ashutosh Ranka said on Thursday that the movement has become a national campaign.

According to Ranka, the movement that started about one-and-a-half months ago has “awakened the entire nation” and claimed that thousands of people still gathered outside Jantar Mantar while millions protested across the country.

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“The movement started 1.5 months ago. It woke up the whole nation. Jainism woke up. The movement started 33 days ago. But you can see that Jantar Mantar is still full. Thousands of people are outside Jantar Mantar. Millions of people are protesting all over the country. This is a big success of the movement,” he said.

Ranka said the protesters were ready for a dialogue with the government, but asked why time was being wasted when their demands were clear on July 20.

“But if they want to talk, they can come. We wanted to talk two days ago. We wasted time there. If they want to talk, they can come. Why are they wasting our time? Our demands are clear. We want Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation,” he said.

“To fire him or not? You can’t suspend a cabinet minister. Fire him or not. What’s the debate?” added Ranka.