Indian Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan broke his silence on Tuesday night, making his first public comments since the Cockroach Janta Party movement began demanding his resignation over the national medical entrance test paper leaks, pledging exam reforms and offering a full parliamentary debate on NEET while simultaneously accusing opposition leader Rahul Gandhi of exploiting the crisis for political gain.
“Our government remains 100% committed to discussing NEET and addressing every genuine concern of our youth on the floor of the House,” Pradhan, posted on X. He added that students of India deserve far better than being treated as props in a political campaign, a pointed reference to Gandhi’s participation in protest marches in New Delhi this week.
Pradhan, a senior figure in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party whose name has previously been floated as a future BJP leader, did not address calls for his resignation or acknowledge the scale of the crisis that has seen 180 people injured in police clashes, 70 protesters detained and at least 20 students die by suicide since the exam leaks began in May.
The Cockroach Janta Party, which has amassed 22 million Instagram followers and drove Monday’s banned march on parliament, said Pradhan’s statement fell far short of what students were demanding and reiterated its call for his immediate resignation.
