photo courtesy:National Herald
New Delhi, 28 July— The principal opposition party Congress today shamed the ruling BJP over the expression of joy and triumph by felicitating Dharmendra Pradhan in Parliament after his resignation as Education Minister over the NEET paper leak and the linked suicides of over 20 students.
Speaking in the Lok Sabha, Congress deputy leader of the House, Gaurav Gogoi, noted that 21 children lost their lives under Pradhan’s tenure and yet he was garlanded as if he had returned victorious from the border.
“Aren’t you ashamed? The minister under whose tenure 21 children lost their lives resigned, but when he came to the House yesterday, you garlanded him as though he had returned after fighting a war with Pakistan. You honoured him as if he had returned victorious from the border,” Gogoi said.
Later, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi questioned the government’s handling of the July 20 ‘Sansad Chalo’ march by student protesters, referring to a girl who faced violence and “fighting for her life”, admitted in the Ram Manohar Lohiya Hospital’s ICU.
Wayanad Lok Sabha MP asked who had authorised the use of lathis and pellet guns against the demonstrators, saying, “The whole country, not merely Congress is asking—what was the need, and who, the Home Minister or the Prime Minister—allowed the lathis, tear gas, water cannons, pellet guns and AK47 to be used on students on July 20?”
Alleging that there had been 152 paper leaks over the past decade, affecting 7.5 crore students, Gandhi questioned the government’s record on accountability, saying that despite the repeated leaks, “not one guilty or paper leak mafia has been punished.”
Participating in the debate on the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026 in the lower house, the Congress MP questioned why the government was “afraid” of the country’s youth.
She said the government must remain accountable to young people, adding that thousands of students had, in recent days, protested peacefully by following Mahatma Gandhi’s principles of truth and non-violence. Gandhi said the protesters exercised their democratic right to protest while raising their voices over issues affecting them.
Earlier, Gogoi alleged that Dharmendra Pradhan didn’t accept the truth when the paper leak happened in 2024 and that his attitude remained the same in 2026 too.
“It should be a matter of shame that under this minister’s watch, 21 children lost their lives, yet the Modi government honours him,” the Congress leader added.
He further alleged that the RSS, BJP’s ideological parent organisation, has taken over the country’s education system.
Both Pradhan and the new Education Minister, Pralhad Joshi, have been members of the RSS.
Gogoi also slammed the central government over police brutality against students during the Jantar Mantar movement.
“In this movement, while we saw humanity, on the other side we also saw the brutal lathi charge carried out on the youth. We cannot forget that a policeman slapped a girl and hit her in her private parts with a baton. Pellet guns were used on the youth,” Gogoi charged.
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