Dharmendra Pradhan Controversy: From 'Ujwala Man' To Student Anger | NEET Leak, Paper Scandal & BJP Dilemma
When Destruction Comes, Wisdom Dies First
You must have heard this saying, "When destruction comes to man, first of all, wisdom dies." That is, when the time of destruction comes, first of all, man's mind is killed.
And today, if anyone sits on this saying the most accurately, then he is the Education Minister of the country, Dharmendra Pradhan. He is the person because of whom today there is chaos in the whole country.
They are throwing stones, bottles of water, whatever is coming in the hands. "Let's go back, let's go back." The protest is not looking peaceful anywhere. Thousands of students are on the streets.
There is a ruckus in Rajdhani Delhi. March is going on till Sansad. And instead of extinguishing this fire, it is getting more and more angry every day.
But even after all this, he did what may be ending all the goodwill of the BJP. He neither admitted his mistake, nor resigned, nor tried to calm the anger of the people. Instead, he put his own party, his own government into this fire.
The biggest question arises from here. The BJP, which used to beg for honesty from others, why is it saving this one politician today? What is it in Dharmendra Pradhan that he is afraid of removing him till Modi? And the biggest thing is how this lone politician is unknowingly holding the weapon in the hands of the opposition, which he has been dreaming of for years.
Who Is Dharmendra Pradhan? Why Is He So Important For BJP
So, let's talk about all this in this Article. See, to understand why the BJP is not removing such a failure minister, we will first have to see who is Dharmendra Pradhan? And why is he so important for the party?
Because Dharmendra Pradhan is not a politician who has won the elections directly and has come up on the vote of the people. He is actually a member of an organization within the party. And being a member of an organization in an ideological party like the BJP is considered to be the biggest strength.
- OBC Face: On top of that, Dharmendra Pradhan comes from an ordinary family in Odisha and has an OBC face.
- Political Family: His father himself has been an MP of the BJP. That is, he also comes from a political family.
- RSS Background: During his college days, he joined ABVP, which is a student organization of the RSS. That is, he is not a politician who has fallen from a parachute. But from the beginning, he is a person associated with the party.
For years, Dharmendra Pradhan has worked on the ground for the party. And because of this, he has been made the in-charge of elections in different states. From Bihar to Karnataka and from Uttarakhand to Jharkhand.
The biggest thing is that he has played a very important role in establishing the BJP in Odisha, where there was no name of any party. Basically, he is the politician who got the party to vote, established an organization, and worked hard for years without any noise behind the curtain.
In politics, such a loyal man who works on the ground and does not even rebel, is found with great difficulty. That is why his grip on the party is so deep. And brother, he is also getting the reward for this hard work.
When the Modi government came in 2014, after that only, Dharmendra Pradhan has got big ministries one after the other. First he got the Petroleum Ministry, which is one of the biggest and then he got the Ujwala Yojana under which poor women got free gas connection. And that's why he was called 'Ujwala Man'.
Then he got the Steel Ministry, Skill Development, and then in 2021 the country made him the Education Minister.
That is, an OBC face, a big name in his state Odisha, and a trustworthy man of the organization. All these three powers were gathered inside a person. This man was sitting heavily on all three levels of the caste state and that's why Dharmendra Pradhan becomes so important for the party. And this is the reason that Modi is hesitating to remove him even after so much chaos.
The Biggest Failure: NEET Paper Leak & Murder Of Trust
But here is the biggest twist of this whole thing. Because the same man whom the party is saving by considering him as its strongest link, has become the weakest link of the party. The man who was once a big power of the party, has now become the biggest burden of the party.
And the reason for this is the failure of the education ministry which has broken the trust of the crores of voters of the country.
See, the first and the biggest task of any education minister is the same. To ensure that the tests of the country are done in a clean manner. And there should be no cheating with the hard work of any child. And Dharmendra Pradhan has failed to do exactly this one thing again and again. And his biggest example is NEET.
This is the test which is given by around 24 lakh children every year. With the dream of becoming a doctor. Many of these children study day and night for years. They stay in small rooms in cities like Kota. They invest their parents' hard earned money and the most important years of their youth for this one test.
"And the paper of the same NEET gets leaked. In the country where a child works hard for 3 years to become a doctor, in that country, that paper reaches the hands of a few rich people before the test. That is, an honest child who was sitting in the hall only for his hard work lost to the child who had bought the paper earlier and had money."
It was not just a test. It was the murder of the trust of lakhs of children. And the matter did not stop here. Because of this leak, many children's years of hard work were ruined. And some of those children even gave their lives. This is the most painful part of this complete failure. And this is the part that no government, no minister can ever forget.
But the surprising thing is that when the whole country was angry with this in the students, even in the BJP's own voters, then what was the answer of the Pradhan? He said that the paper leak happened only in one or two places. And there is no need to completely cancel. The whole country's children were suffering from this wound. The minister, instead of blaming him, goes ahead by calling him ordinary.
UGC NET Cancelled & Radhakrishnan Committee Ignored
And NEET was not a single failure. Along with this, there was another big test called UGC NET, which determines the eligibility of college and university students. And which more than 9 lakh children give.
And the very next day after this test, the government had to admit that there was also a mistake in this. And the entire test was cancelled overnight. "The test was cancelled in the evening. Hey, Kejriwal does not turn so soon, brother."
As soon as the government's exams were being cancelled. After this whole mess, the government itself made a big committee under the leadership of Radhakrishnan, the former chief of ISRO, so that the test process can be rectified again.
This committee looked at the test and did not give a light punishment. But gave 101 strong suggestions. Like sending the paper digitally and in an encrypted way, so that no one can touch it on the way. With biometrics. And changing the entire structure of that institution called NTA, which conducts these tests.
That is, the government had already written the treatment of the disease. But what happened? All these suggestions were put in the cold bag. "Hey, if you did not want to agree, then why did you make a committee? No one took them seriously."
And the result was that which should be the biggest shame for any responsible minister. Again the same NEET paper was leaked. This time, 42 hours before the test, a guest paper was roaming in the market, whose more than 100 questions were found from the real paper. And in the end, the entire test had to be cancelled.
Moreover, in the latest, there has been a problem in checking the copy of CBSE. Students have to face inconveniences. That is, an education minister had as many ways as possible, he used almost every way.
And behind all these failures, only one institution was coming forward again and again, whose name is NTA, i.e. National Testing Agency. This is the same government institution that conducts all these big tests. And it comes directly under the ministry of the Pradhan.
How One Minister Became BJP's Biggest Burden: 3 Ways
Now see, one thing should be clearly said here that failures can happen to anyone. No system is perfect. No man is perfect. If the Pradhan had come forward and admitted that yes, there has been a big problem and we will fix it from the root, then perhaps the public would have forgiven him. Because the public forgives mistakes, but does not forgive arrogance.
But what did the Pradhan do? He did exactly the opposite. And from here, he started harming the party. See, whatever had happened before was just a failure of the ministry. But whatever is happening now, it has made this failure the backbone of the BJP.
1. Refusing To Resign: BJP's Double Standard Exposed
Dharmendra Pradhan instead of admitting his mistake, refused to resign. And not giving resignation is such a big thing because the BJP had built its entire politics on this.
When it came to power in 2014, it surrounded the Congress by saying that even after doing such big frauds, this minister is not ready to leave the chair. There was a time when there was a rail accident in this country, a minister like Lal Bahadur Shastri used to resign saying that if the accident happened in my time, then it is my responsibility. Nitish Kumar has done this. This was the real responsibility.
And the BJP had called itself the heir of this old honest thought. Had promised that "we are different, we will take responsibility".
But brother, it is the opposite of reality. Actually, when the rail accident was happening continuously in 2017, then Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu had proposed to resign taking political responsibility. But instead of taking his resignation, the government stopped him and just changed his ministry.
That is, even in the history of this particular government, when a minister was ready to take responsibility himself, then the party did not accept his responsibility. And in the case of Dharmendra Pradhan, the party has gone one step further. Here the minister is not ready to resign himself and the party is standing as a shield to save the party.
That is, the party that came into power is now putting its years of respect at stake to save the chair. And the public is clearly seeing this double standard. People are asking that the rule that was applicable to others till yesterday, why is it not applicable to you today?
2. Giving Opposition Their Strongest Weapon
They stopped the opposition on the issue that they never had. Education, exams, children's future. These issues were never the strongest issues of the left or Congress. It was actually the land on which BJP's claim was the strongest. But the failure of Dharmendra Pradhan picks up the whole land and puts it in the lap of the opposition.
Today the situation is that a new movement has risen on this issue. A youth movement called 'Kokro Janta Party' is being called and is being run by a person who has previously worked with the Aam Aadmi Party. Along with them, all the leftist organizations like SFI and AISA have joined together. And then people like Sonam Wangchuk have also joined which they have given more mass appeal to this movement.
Slowly this movement grew and it started getting a place in the national media. And as soon as the entire left ecosystem, which was wandering in search of a big issue for years, has come together on this one issue.
And the biggest thing is that these people have not only asked for resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan, but have slowly come up with their aim and have come straight to the demand of Modi's resignation.
Basically, a stubbornness of Dharmendra Pradhan, his love for the chair, has given a winning issue to the opposition with the help of which he is directly asking for the resignation of Modi. That is, the fire that could have been extinguished with a bucket of resignation water in the beginning, in order to save his chair, he has allowed that fire to spread to the entire government.
3. Angering BJP's Core Voter: The Middle Class
This is the biggest danger for the BJP. And that is that the BJP's core voter is shivering from this whole matter.
It is very important to understand that who gives NEET, NET and other exams that are leaking. Those middle class children who want to go to a doctor, professor or some other job by studying. And who are their parents? The same middle class family who invests all their children's earnings in studies, in the hope that one day the child will make them proud.
And exactly these are the people who have been the strongest vote bank of the BJP for the last 10 years. This is the aspirational India that believes in hard work, that believes in the system and those who have trusted Modi blindly.
To put it simply, the BJP's most loyal voter is the one who gets in line and honestly tests. And Dharmendra Pradhan has stabbed the back of the same voter.
Today, the children of this class are feeling deceived and their parents are angry. Their complaint is simple that "our child's hard work was wasted in a leaked pamphlet and the minister who was responsible for this is not even apologizing and not even leaving his seat."
And when your most loyal voter base starts breaking your face, then there can be no greater danger for any party than this. The enemy outside can never harm you as much as the person you have trusted. And Dharmendra Pradhan is doing exactly the same with his failure and his stubbornness.
Why BJP Is Not Removing Dharmendra Pradhan? 2 Big Reasons
Now, the biggest question is that when there is anger in the whole country, then why is the party like the BJP not removing Dharmendra Pradhan? After all, what is their own compulsion? There are two reasons behind this.
Reason 1: Fear of Setting Wrong Precedent
That is, the BJP believes that if the Pradhan resigns today, then tomorrow the opposition will ask for the resignation of a minister. And if he doesn't resign, then the same protest, the same everything. The BJP believes that if they bow down to pressure once, then they will have to bow down again and again. That is why the party feels that it is better to bear the humiliation than to open the door.
Reason 2: Modi's Reputation At Stake
The second reason is directly related to Modi ji. Who was the one who made Dharmendra Pradhan a minister? It was Modi ji himself. Now, if this minister takes the stamp of failure, then the question directly comes to Modi ji that "why did you choose such a man?" That is, the resignation of a minister will become a question of the prime minister's dignity. And that is why the party is assuming such a big resignation.
What Should BJP Have Done? & The Congress Example
See, in my opinion, what the BJP should have done here? They should have called a meeting. And in that meeting, the designations of the ministers, the profiles of the ministers should have been changed. That is, this minister should have been put in this ministry and this minister's man in another ministry. In this shuffling, Dharmendra Pradhan could have been removed from the party.
Now, let's come back to the party's perspective. So, the party understands this math. But this is the biggest mistake they make. Because what seems beneficial to them today, is actually saving them the biggest loss inside.
Just remember, why did Congress fall? Congress didn't fall because it didn't work. Rather, it fell because its ministers were so stubborn. They didn't accept their mistake. And they thought that "this issue is very hot now. Then the public will forget in a few days." But the public did not forget anything. The public kept watching quietly. And then one day, with the wound of the vote, they threw everything away.
And the BJP came to power by standing against the same habit of the same Congress. The biggest promise of the BJP was that "we are different. We take responsibility. If there is a mistake, then it will be on our responsibility." But today, in order to save a seat, they seem to fall on the same path.
And the biggest thing is that this whole matter is related to such a voter who is the life of the BJP. The middle class who studies and writes. Today, this issue may cool down a bit. But the millions of children who test and their parents will always remember that when they were deceived, then the government saved its minister instead of listening to them.
And if not today, then tomorrow. If not in the UP election, then in the Punjab election. If not in the Punjab election, then in 2029. They can hit this party hard. Because governments do not fall only when their trusted voter, their core voter quietly turns his face.
Frequently Asked Questions - FAQ
Q1. Why are students protesting against Dharmendra Pradhan? Ans: Due to repeated NEET and UGC NET paper leaks. Lakhs of students' hard work was wasted and the Education Ministry failed to ensure clean exams.
Q2. What is NTA and why is it responsible? Ans: NTA - National Testing Agency. It conducts NEET, NET and other big exams. It comes directly under Education Ministry. All exam failures are linked to NTA.
Q3. What did the Radhakrishnan Committee recommend? Ans: 101 suggestions including digital encrypted paper transfer, biometrics, and complete restructuring of NTA. But government did not implement them.
Q4. Why is BJP not removing Dharmendra Pradhan despite protests? Ans: Two reasons. 1. Fear that if one minister resigns, opposition will demand more. 2. His resignation would raise questions on PM Modi's decision since he appointed him.
Q5. How has this issue hurt BJP's vote bank? Ans: It has angered BJP's core middle class voter who believes in merit and exams. Parents feel the government saved the minister instead of their children.
Q6. What is 'Cockroch Janta Party' movement? Ans: A new youth movement started over paper leaks. SFI, AISA and other groups have joined. The movement has now started demanding Modi's resignation too.
Q7. What did Dharmendra Pradhan say on NEET leak? Ans: He said the paper leak happened only in one or two places and there was no need to cancel the entire exam. This statement angered students more.
Q8. Should Dharmendra Pradhan resign? Ans: As per public opinion and political ethics, yes. Because taking responsibility is the basic duty of a minister when crores of students' future is at stake.
What do you think about this whole issue? Should Dharmendra Pradhan resign now? And can BJP's saving him in this way prove to be their biggest mistake? Do tell us your thoughts in the comments below.
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