Pradhan’s exit reflects Govt’s failure: Oppn

Opposition leaders described Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation on Saturday as an overdue admission of failure following weeks of intense student protests, terming the move as the first major dent in the ruling Modi Cabinet’s stubbornness. Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi said Pradhan was a symbol of corruption and “it is good that he is gone”.

He described the student protest as a fight between “the past” represented by the Prime Minister and the RSS, and the future of India.

Gandhi said he was confident that “the future of India will defeat the past”. He also urged the prime minister to apologise to the students of the country for the “atrocities” committed on them during the agitation.

Addressing the media outside Sonia Gandhi’s 10, Janpath residence soon after Pradhan resigned, Rahul said his party held Home Minister Amit Shah directly responsible for the violence against students, and for authorising the use of lethal weapons like pellet guns against them. He also accused the RSS of capturing India’s education system and making it hollow like termites. “It has to go.”

On the other hand, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and his cousin, MNS chief Raj Thackeray, said the rally organised by the two parties in central Mumbai on Sunday will take place as planned to congratulate the country’s youth. The youth have brought the country out of the “atmosphere of fear”, Uddhav Thackeray said at a joint press conference following Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation over the NEET paper leak issue.

While Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Shiromani Akali Dal termed Pradhan’s resignation as a victory for the youth, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) said Pradhan’s resignation was “just the beginning” and claimed that more such resignations would follow, while the Congress termed it a “victory for crores of students across the country”.

AAP leader and Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema said, “Resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan is a powerful indictment of youth power,” and the BJP has bowed before it. Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) senior leader Bikram Singh Majithia said moral responsibility has finally been fixed and asserted that the time has come to hold the Bhagwant Mann Government accountable for the paper leaks that had allegedly taken place in the State.

Left leaders hailed it as a “historic victory” for the student-youth movement, while asserting that the struggle would continue until all the protesters’ demands were met. CPI(M) general secretary MA Baby congratulated students and youth across the country on what he described as a “major victory”, saying Pradhan’s resignation was “only the first step”. CPI(ML) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya took a jibe at Pradhan, saying it was the “only sensible thing”.

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Manoj Jha called for structural changes in the country’s examination and educational apparatus and urged the government to replace what he termed a compromised system with a transparent one. “This is just the beginning. The first peak of the arrogance and stubbornness that defined Modi Ji’s cabinet has finally fallen today. This victory belongs to the spirit of the youth, their freedom, and their relentless questions,” Jha said.

Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal said the BJP has never known how to govern this country and they have been governing only through fear, force and prosecutions. He slammed the BJP ministers who praised Pradhan after his resignation and said all these ministers have no relevance as their only interest is in winning elections.