The Politics Behind Dharmendra Pradhan’s Exit
While Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks as though the students and the youth are very close to his heart even after the forced resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan and merciless lathi charge on the students, some of the BJP leaders and their acolytes call the protesters anti-national. Pradhan himself, instead of accepting the moral responsibility for the failure in the conduct of examinations, tactfully sought to present his stepping down as an attempt to prevent ‘anti-national’ elements from exploiting the situation created by the protests. He earlier described those who are demanding accountability as the ‘B-team of dehshatgard (terrorists).’ His resignation letter hints that some sections of the students were acting with ulterior motives. It is the government’s mindset.
How the Ruling Elite Views Student Discontent
BJP MP and actress Kangana Ranaut has been quarrelling with Saurav Das, the CJP spokesman. Reacting to her Gen Z remarks, Das asked his colleagues in the party not to take her seriously as even in the BJP nobody takes her seriously. She wrote, ‘I googled this person and he is 28 years old. How he claims to be a student I have no clue. Yes, I am in politics for two years, but I have been in public life for last 20 years. At his age I had two national awards. But someone like him who is totally useless and unemployed will never understand what it means to be in massive demand at all times at any age,” she commented rather provokingly.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman reportedly suggested that some students had used the delay (because of the cancellation of exams) to improve their performance as though paper leak was an opportunity. Rightist intellectual S Gurumurthy commented that those who could mobilize 50 thousand youth cannot claim to represent the entire generation. The praise and cheers for Pradhan by the NDA MPs when he entered the Parliament on Monday indicate that there is no regret or remorse on the part of the ruling dispensation.
Silence at the Top, Force on the Streets: The High-Stakes Showdown Over the Student Movement
It is now suggested that the Delhi DGP has ordered the use of pellet guns which resulted in loss of sight by two youngsters and loss of hearing by another. The same arrogance prompted the police to use against the young protesters shock batons, pellet guns, lathis with nails and AK-47 (in Bihar). Amit Shah under whose supervision the police work does not open his mouth. Rahul was not tactful in directly blaming Shah for the police excesses. He should have been more careful in implicating Shah in the police outrage. However, Rahul covered the whole gamut in his media conference. He said while he was speaking, he was stopped and the Speaker was asking Rajnath Singh and Rijiju to speak. Asked why he is not allowed to continue his speech, Rahul was told by the Speaker that he will be allowed to speak only if he apologized. Rahul said he would never apologize.
JP Nadda and Jitendra Singh, the two ministers who met the CJP representatives, tried to persuade them to accept a proposal to shift Pradhan from education ministry to some other ministry. But the CJP representatives were stubborn and did not accept the proposition. Pradhan had to resign as it became inevitable.
Superficial Reforms vs. Uncompromising Resolve
Modi, on his part, did not say a word against the protesters. He got a bill prepared to increase the punishment for those who indulge in leaking of question papers and also to set up fast-track courts to hear the cases against them. The Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) has made it clear to the government that it will be forced to protest again if the cases against the protesters are not immediately withdrawn, as promised by the government.
The students looked fear in the eye. They have risen as one with no religious and artificial devices. They have shown courage the elders lacked. They have shown the elders that cowardice, impotence and willingness to bow to such authoritarianism, so that they continue to live comfortably, are unacceptable to the new generation.
A Miscalculated Choice? How Pralhad Joshi’s Past Has Fuelled a Fresh Political Firestorm
Prime Minister Modi seems to have picked up the wrong person to replace Pradhan. The new education minister Pralhad Joshi was called in Parliament on 29 July 2026 a filthy man and a defender of rapists. In October 2022, Joshi, the then Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Coal and Mines, had sparked a row with his comments regarding the premature release of11 men serving life sentences in the 2002 Bilkis Bano gangrape case. Joshi had, in conversation with the Indian Express, reportedly defended the release of the convicts saying “it was done as per the legal provision,”
On Tuesday, Lok Sabha witnessed ruckus after Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra mentioned this episode while speaking on the Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026. When Pralhad Joshi and Kiren Rijiju accused Vadra of resorting to personal attacks and “character assassination,” Vadra said she has the Joshi video with her and she would authenticate what she said in the House. Speaker Birla decided to expunge the remarks of Vadra from the records. Her brother and the Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi made the same accusation on Wednesday in Lok Sabha and the Speaker has expunged what was said by Rahul as well. The Congress Party has released the earlier video in which Joshi was asked a question about the release of the rape accused and he de fended their release.
Defiance, Division, and Deterrence: How the Ruling Dispensation Plans to Neutralize the Student Movement
When thousands of Indian students were stuck in war-tor n Ukraine in 2022, Pralhad Joshi had controversially commented that 90 per cent of students going abroad to study medicine won’t be able to clear Indian entrance examinations. A Congress MP has commented that ‘one disaster replaced another.’ The BJP termed the opposition attacks on Joshi as misleading, condemnable and unacceptable. Rahul Gandhi needed to learn to respect senior leaders, they said. “Joshi had merely commented on the legal process and not on the matter itself,” said the BJP media cell convenor Anil Baloni as quoted by The Hindu.
The government is now confident that the CJP will not be able to relaunch the movement any more. The BJP leadership is working on the leaders of the CJP. There are some people who were with Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). There are leftists. They are students who are apolitical. The BJP leaders are busy dividing them. They will make sure that persons like Sonam Wangchuk would not involve themselves in the student activities any more. The NDA government would not act on the police who violated their code. Minister Nadda has already said that the students should be prepared to be dealt by the police if they choose to protest.
Prominent Journalist
Dr. K. Ramachandra Murthy is a versatile journalist with a distinguished career. Dr. Murthy began his extensive career with Andhra Prabha of The Indian Express group in Bengaluru. He was editor of Udayam, Vaartha and Andhra Jyothy. Dr. Murthy founded and edited HMTV news channel and The Hans India, an English newspaper. He was also editorial director of the Telugu newspaper, Saakshi. He was awarded Ph. D for his research work in rural reporting. Dr. Murthy’s five decades in journalism showcases his influential roles across both print and electronic media. He wrote the political biography of NTR published by Harper Collins.
