President Droupadi Murmu has accepted Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation as education minister, and Pralhad Joshi will be getting the education ministry's charge.
The development comes hours after Pradhan announced he has tendered resignation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Follow live updates here.
“The President of India, as advised by the Prime Minister, has accepted the resignation of Shri Dharmendra Pradhan from the Union Council of Ministers, with immediate effect, under clause (2) of Article 75 of the Constitution of India. Further, as advised by the Prime Minister, the President has directed that Shri Pralhad Joshi, Cabinet Minister, be assigned the charge of the Ministry of Education, in addition to his existing portfolio,” a government release read.
Who is Pralhad Joshi?
Pralhad Venkatesh Joshi is currently the Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution & New and Renewable Energy. After Pradhan's resignation, he will also be getting education ministry's charge.
He returned to PM Modi's cabinet after the big NDA sweep in the 2024 general elections. He has been a Member of Parliament five times and is known as the ‘blue-eyed boy’ within the BJP high command.
{{/usCountry}}He returned to PM Modi's cabinet after the big NDA sweep in the 2024 general elections. He has been a Member of Parliament five times and is known as the ‘blue-eyed boy’ within the BJP high command.
{{/usCountry}}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 got associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) at a young age and rose through the ranks in the BJP later.
Notably, after the NEET-UG paper leak in May, Joshi had said that the government was planning reforms. "The government is very serious about that...The reforms are needed, we are bringing them, but they cannot be done within a year. By next year, technology-driven examination will be there," Joshi had said, according to an ANI report.
The paper leak was central to the massive student protests in the country and Pradhan's resignation was its biggest demand.
Why Dharmendra Pradhan resigned
Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation announcement came amid massive students protests over the NEET-UG paper leak and other alleged exam irregularities.
In a letter shared on X, Pradhan said he was making the move for students and their future. "...To ensure that anti-national elements are not benefitted by the situation at Jantar Mantar and across the country, that the nation remains united, students in India do not get tangled in legal complexities and focus on their studies and their career, I have tendered my resignation to the Prime Minister...," the letter reads.
Hours after this announcement, the CJP and the government held a joint presser, in which it was announced that the Abhijeet Dipke-led outfit was ending its protest because the Centre has agreed to all its demands.