President Draupadi Murmu has accepted Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation from the post of Education Minister, and Pralhad Joshi will take over as Education Minister.
This development comes hours after Pradhan announced that he had submitted his resignation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Follow live updates here.
“The President of India, on the advice of the Prime Minister, has accepted the resignation of Shri Dharmendra Pradhan from the Union Cabinet, with immediate effect, under Clause (2) of Article 75 of the Constitution of India. Further, on the advice of the Prime Minister, the President has directed that Shri Pralhad Joshi, Cabinet Minister, be appointed in charge of the Ministry of Education, in addition to his existing portfolio,” a government statement said.
Who is Pralhad Joshi?
Pralhad Venkatesh Joshi is currently the Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and New and Renewable Energy. After Pradhan’s resignation, he will also get the education ministry post.
He returned to Prime Minister Modi’s government after the NDA’s grand sweep in the 2024 general elections. He has been a five-time MP and is known as the ‘blue-eyed boy’ within the BJP high command.
Joshi was born into a traditional North Karnataka Brahmin family in November 1962. He entered national politics in 2004 with his election to the 14th Lok Sabha. He was associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) at a young age and rose through the ranks of the BJP later.
Notably, after the NEET-UG paper was leaked in May, Joshi said the government was planning reforms. “The government is very serious about this… Reforms are required, we are implementing them, but they cannot be implemented in a year. By next year, technology-based screening will be there,” Joshi said, according to a report. that I a report.
The newspaper’s leak was central to the country’s massive student protests and Pradhan’s resignation was its biggest demand.
Why did Dharmendra Pradhan resign?
Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation announcement came amid massive student protests over leaked NEET-UG papers and other alleged irregularities in the exams.
In a message shared on X, Pradhan said that he is taking this step for the sake of the students and their future. “…To ensure that anti-national elements do not take advantage of the situation in Jantar Mantar and across the country, that the nation remains united, and that students in India do not get bogged down in legal complexities and focus on their studies and careers, I have tendered my resignation to the Prime Minister…”, the letter said.
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Hours after this announcement, the CJP and the government held a joint press conference, in which it was announced that the Abhijit Debke-led outfit would end its protest as the Center had agreed to all its demands.
