‘Some tried to mislead Gen Z’: Dharmendra Pradhan breaks silence on resignation, NEET protests

Former Union education minister and Sambalpur MP Dharmendra Pradhan has said Gen Z was “misled” during protests over the NEET paper leak controversy, adding that he had urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to acknowledge the concerns of the protesting students.

Speaking at a felicitation ceremony for Padma awardees in Sambalpur on Saturday, Pradhan said he had met Modi and sought his permission to address the aspirations of the younger generation rather than allow their grievances to be exploited for political purposes.

“I have been a victim of Gen Z,” Pradhan said, adding that he believed attempts had been made to mislead young people during the controversy.

Pradhan said he asked Modi to allow him to acknowledge the concerns of the protesters. “I never staked my personal honour in the matter,” he said, adding that the prime minister accepted his request and later addressed the issue himself.

Pradhan’s resignation

Pradhan resigned as education minister on July 25 amid weeks of student protests over alleged irregularities in the NEET-UG examination.

In his resignation note, Pradhan said his decision was intended to prevent “anti-national forces” from exploiting the protests, preserve national unity and ensure that students’ futures were not caught up in legal complications. He stressed that the decision was “not a matter of individual prestige” for him.

Pradhan said the government had acted promptly after irregularities were reported in the May 3 NEET-UG exam. The probe was handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the examination was cancelled and a re-test was held on June 21, with results announced on July 16.

He said he had accepted responsibility from the outset and would not allow the future of deserving students to be jeopardised by shortcomings in the examination system.

‘20 crore children of the new generation’

Pradhan also highlighted the importance of India’s young population to the country’s ambition of becoming a global power.

“Every year, around two crore children are born in India. If we look at those between the ages of 15 and 25, within a period of 10 years, there will be 20 crore children of the new generation on whose shoulders India will become a global leader,” he said.

His remarks come amid renewed efforts by Prime Minister Modi and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat to engage with Gen Z, which has emerged as an influential political constituency following the protests.

BJD hits back

The remarks drew a response from the Biju Janata Dal (BJD). Sambalpur district president and former minister Rohit Pujari rejected Pradhan’s claim that he had been targeted, saying criticism of the former minister stemmed from the government’s handling of the student protests.

“Nobody had defamed Pradhan. His party and government have defamed him,” Pujari said, alleging that police used lathi charges and tear gas against students during protests at Jantar Mantar.

Pujari also alleged that more than 20 students had died by suicide over the controversy and said the BJP government’s “wrong policy” had damaged Pradhan’s reputation.