Dharmendra, Leader of Earlier Exam Paper Leak Protests, Resigns Amid Current Leak Scandal

9th Shrawan, Kathmandu — In an ironic turn of events, India’s Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who once led a movement against exam paper leaks and was injured by police baton charge during protests, has now resigned taking moral responsibility in a new exam paper leak controversy on Saturday.

Meanwhile, students protesting demanding his resignation were also injured by police baton charge during demonstrations.

A report published in 2021 by ‘The New Indian Express’ has recently gone viral again on Indian media and social networks, highlighting Pradhan’s earlier activism.

According to that report, during the tenure of Odisha’s then Chief Minister J.B. Patnaik in 1997, Dharmendra Pradhan led protests organized by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) in front of the state secretariat against exam paper leaks.

Pradhan himself was injured in a police baton charge during that protest.

Nearly 29 years later, on July 20, 2026, police again baton-charged students and youth marching towards the parliament demanding Pradhan’s resignation, resulting in many protesters being hospitalized with injuries.

Prashant Raut, president of the Bhubaneswar Raja Madhusudan Dev College Student Union and a participant in the 1997 protest, confirmed the incident in an interview with the BBC.

“At that time, I was president of ABVP’s Bhubaneswar unit and Dharmendra Pradhan was national general secretary,” he said. “In the third week of July 1997, hundreds of activists protested in front of the legislative assembly against the leakage of the plus-two exam papers, and Pradhan led that movement.”

According to Raut, exam paper leaks occurred almost every year from 1988 to 1997, a period dubbed the “decade of exam paper leaks.”

He added, “The police deployed Rapid Action Force (RAF) to disperse the protesters and indiscriminately baton-charged them, injuring 64 activists including myself and Pradhan.”

Journey From Student Activism

Dharmendra Pradhan’s political career began decades ago through student politics.

From childhood, he was associated with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), a student wing close to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). He also served as president of the Talcher College Student Union.

He later contested for president of Utkal University’s student union but was defeated by Arun Sahu, a candidate from the Students Federation of India (SFI) and now a senior leader in the Biju Janata Dal (BJD). Pradhan secured third place, while Sindhujyoti Tripathy of the Student Janata Dal finished second.

Tripathy described Pradhan as an average student and said, “Before the candidate announcement, many did not know him, but ABVP had a strong base in the university, helping him secure a good number of votes.”

Arun Sahu, who defeated Pradhan, later became a chief leader of the BJD and Odisha’s Minister of Higher Education. On the resignation demand of Pradhan, he said, “Our leader Naveen Patnaik has said he should resign, and I share that view.”

Regarding Pradhan’s political rise, he added, “Many BJP decisions are influenced by the RSS. Since Pradhan has been connected to the RSS for a long time, it was natural for him to get significant responsibilities in the party and government.”

Rise in National Politics

Despite losing the university election, Dharmendra Pradhan’s political ascent continued.

1994–1997: National General Secretary of ABVP

2004–2006: President of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha

Later: National General Secretary of BJP

Active in expanding party organization in states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Karnataka

Electoral Journey

2000: Elected MLA from Pal Lahara Assembly Constituency for the first time

2004: Elected MP from Deogarh Lok Sabha Constituency

2012–2018: Member of Rajya Sabha from Bihar

2018–2024: Member of Rajya Sabha from Madhya Pradesh

2014: Minister of State for Petroleum in Narendra Modi’s government

2024: Elected Lok Sabha MP from Sambalpur, Odisha

Discussions on Relationship with Amit Shah

Sindhujyoti Tripathy, a former classmate of Pradhan, claimed that his close ties with Union Home Minister Amit Shah and JP Nadda played a role in his political advancement.

Tripathy alleged that during a period when a restraining order was issued against Amit Shah by the court, Amit Shah stayed at Pradhan’s home in Talcher. However, Tripathy has no direct evidence to substantiate this claim.

BJP’s Expansion in Odisha

Senior journalist Ruben Banerjee considers Dharmendra Pradhan the key figure behind BJP’s organizational expansion in Odisha.

According to Banerjee, after becoming a central minister in 2014, Pradhan spent every weekend in Odisha meeting local activists and actively working on strengthening the party, a routine that some jokingly called the “weekend party.”

Pradhan’s former private secretary Sambit Tripathy confirmed this, stating, “He personally knew activists across the state and consistently used his influence at the center to address local issues.”

BJP’s Response to Resignation Demand

Supporters of Pradhan claim that calls for his resignation are politically motivated. BJP leader Sajjan Sharma said, “Opposition parties are politicizing the NIT examination issues. The exam has concluded successfully and students are celebrating their results — the protests are driven by political agendas, nothing else.”

Another party leader, Golak Mahapatra, added, “NIT is just an excuse. The real dissatisfaction is with the new education policy. The opposition demands the education minister’s resignation but conveniently forgets that nine paper leak incidents occurred in Odisha during their own government term (2019–2024).”

(Reported by BBC Hindi)