Nearly 30 years before facing resignation demands over the NEET-UG paper leak, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan reportedly stood on the other side of a similar fight — as a student protester in Odisha.
Quick Summary
- Reports suggest Dharmendra Pradhan led a 1997 student protest against an alleged paper leak in Odisha, years before entering full-time politics.
- The claim comes from Pradhan’s former college associate, Dr. Prasant Kumar Rout, now Principal of RMD Degree College, Bhubaneswar.
- Nearly 30 years later, Pradhan himself faces widespread calls to resign as Education Minister over the NEET-UG paper leak controversy.
- Opposition parties and groups like the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) have intensified protests demanding his resignation.
What the Report Claims
Amid growing calls for Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation, several reports have resurfaced pointing to an old chapter from his student days. According to these reports, Pradhan once protested against a paper leak himself — back in 1997, at the Odisha secretariat.
The claim was first detailed in a report by The New Indian Express, which spoke to Dr. Prasant Kumar Rout, Pradhan’s junior from college. Rout, now Principal of RMD Degree College in Bhubaneswar, said he first shared this account after Pradhan took charge as Union Education Minister in 2021.
Who Was Dharmendra Pradhan in 1997?
At the time of the alleged protest, Pradhan had not yet formally joined the BJP. He was already serving as the national secretary of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the RSS — a role that placed him at the centre of student politics in Odisha.
Inside the 1997 Protest
Rout recalled that the protest was staged directly outside the Odisha secretariat, with around 1,500 students joining the demonstration against the state government over the alleged paper leak. He said the protest began peacefully but that police responded with force.
Describing the aftermath, Rout said the students were frightened by the scale of the crackdown, and claimed Pradhan himself was injured and suffered a few fractures during the incident.
Despite the alleged violence, Rout said Pradhan continued pushing back against the paper leak issue — an episode that, according to him, helped establish Pradhan as one of Odisha’s most prominent student leaders at the time.
Note: Hindustan Times has stated it could not independently verify this account.
Turn of the Tide: 2026 and the NEET-UG Row
Almost three decades on, Dharmendra Pradhan finds himself on the opposite side of a strikingly similar controversy. Since the NEET-UG paper leak came to light, the Education Minister has faced sustained calls for his resignation.
A major protest led by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) has drawn thousands of supporters and demonstrators demanding Pradhan step down. The movement has also drawn support from opposition parties, including Congress, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), NCP-SP, and Shiv Sena (UBT), all of whom have backed the protesting students and joined calls for his resignation.
As the CJP-led protests continue to gain momentum, the group has issued a call for a nationwide peaceful protest, with people from across India reportedly joining demonstrations demanding accountability from the central government.
Why This Story Matters
The irony at the heart of this story — a former student protester against a paper leak now facing resignation demands over one — is what’s fuelling its viral spread. Whether or not the 1997 account is independently verified, it has added a sharp political edge to the ongoing NEET-UG paper leak controversy.
This report is based on claims made by Pradhan’s former college associate as reported by The New Indian Express and Hindustan Times. The details of the 1997 incident have not been independently verified by this publication.
