New Delhi: Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Tuesday made his first public response to the protests demanding his resignation, hours after Congress MPs led by Rahul Gandhi staged a sit-in outside Prime Minister Narendra Modi's residence in solidarity with students protesting under the banner of the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP).
In a post on social media platform X, Pradhan accused the Congress of exploiting students for political gain and asserted that the BJP-led government remains committed to discussing issues related to NEET and addressing the genuine concerns of students on the floor of Parliament.
Earlier in the day, Gandhi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and several senior party leaders staged a dharna outside the Prime Minister's residence, demanding Pradhan's resignation over the police action against students protesting the alleged NEET paper leak.
"LoP Shri @RahulGandhi and @INCIndia continue to shamelessly exploit students as political tools to manufacture disruption during the Monsoon Session of Parliament.
They chose to stage a dharna outside the Hon'ble Prime Minister's residence, causing inconvenience to the public and disregarding established security protocols," Pradhan said in his post.
He further alleged that despite the government's willingness to hold a comprehensive discussion in Parliament, the Congress preferred "political spectacle" over democratic debate.
"Even after Government conveyed its readiness for a comprehensive discussion, the Congress chose political spectacle over democratic debate. Their objective was never solutions for students; it was disruption for political headlines. For Rahul Gandhi, this is not about students. This is about manufacturing confrontation after every genuine avenue for discussion has been opened," he said.
Pradhan, who has been at the centre of the controversy, said Indian students deserve better than being treated as "props in a political campaign."
"Our government remains 100 per cent committed to discussing NEET and addressing every genuine concern of our youth on the floor of the House. The students of India deserve far better than being treated as props in a political campaign. They deserve certainty over chaos, solutions over slogans, and responsibility over disruption.
We owe our students more than outrage. We owe them answers, reforms and accountability. That is exactly what our government remains committed to delivering," he added.
Earlier, Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office Jitendra Singh, accompanied by Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan, met Rahul Gandhi and urged him to end the sit-in.
According to Singh, he informed Gandhi that the government was ready to discuss all issues related to NEET and the ongoing movement in Parliament, but the Leader of the Opposition insisted that Pradhan must first resign.
The Congress leaders were later forcibly removed from the protest site and detained by the Delhi Police.
