As an ABVP leader at Utkal University, Dharmendra Pradhan led a peaceful 1997 protest against an Odisha exam paper leak, suffering severe police assault and fractures. Former colleagues recall his meticulous organising and grassroots activism that later propelled him to the Education Ministry. Now, amid NEET paper leak scandals, CJP protests mirror his past struggles and call for his resignation.
JUST DAYS AFTER taking hold of the Ministry of Education in 2021, The New Indian Express (TNIE) interviewed the new Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s contemporaries from his college days. As a student of Utkal University, Pradhan was part of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) — officially the youth wing of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which also acts as the de facto student organization of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Dr Prasant Kumar Rout, Principal of RMD Degree College, Bhubaneswar and junior of Dharmendra Pradhan in Utkal University, believed that students will have more freedom to dissent under Pradhan. While speaking to TNIE, he said, “It is natural for students to be anti-establishment. They have the right to protest, but the protests have to be non-violent and democratic.”
Dharmendra Pradhan was a student of MA Anthropology in Utkal University, Bhubaneswar, and later became the ABVP National Secretary. His junior Prasant Rout recalls the protest in 1997 against the Odisha government over an incident of paper leak. Rout tells TNIE that Pradhan was just about to join the BJP at the time. He said, “We staged a protest against the Odisha government, in front of the secretariat. Around 1,500 students joined us there.” The RMD College principal also claims that despite the protest being peaceful, they faced police brutality. “We were quite scared. Pradhan was badly beaten up that time. He had a few fractures too,” Rout claims.
This wasn’t the only instance of Pradhan facing such injuries as Rout shared a photo with TNIE in which the then ABVP national secretary was visibly injured. Rout tells the story behind the image, “Elections in universities often got violent, owing to the ruling party's involvement. During one such incident, knowing that Pradhan was set to win the university elections, the Janata Dal goons had beaten him up, brutally. He is alive today, only out of sheer luck.” He claims that all their protests and student agitations were non-violent, yet they faced physical injuries from the ruling government and goons.
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After serving as National Secretary of ABVP for two terms between 1994 and 1997, Pradhan formally entered the Bharatiya Janata Party and gradually started taking larger responsibilities. His contemporaries remember him as someone who always carried three pens — red, blue, and black — to meticulously mark documents and prepare thoroughly for every meeting and campaign. TNIE notes that this detailed preparation helped him expand ABVP’s influence across Odisha during a time when the organisation faced strong opposition from other student groups.
Sudipta Kumar Ray, a senior of Pradhan and current BJP leader, first met Pradhan during an ABVP training camp in 1985. He recalls how the young student leader began participating in elections right from his first year of college. “While most people cast their votes for the first time at 18, he started fighting polls by then,” Ray told TNIE with a laugh. He highlighted Pradhan’s commitment to grassroots mobilisation, including regular participation in cultural and religious events like the Puri Jagannath Rath Yatra, where he insisted on walking the entire distance every year.
Those close to him also fondly refer to Pradhan as “Muku Bhai,” a common Odia nickname that reflects the close-knit bonds within the activist circle. He served in various capacities including the Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas within the BJP before taking charge of the Ministry of Education. When he assumed the role of Union Education Minister in 2021, many of his old associates from Utkal University and ABVP believed that his background equips him to understand student protests better and create more democratic spaces within educational institutions.
See Also: Journalists Allege Attacks and Harassment by CJP Protestors During “Chalo Sansad” March
It’s ironic that Dharemendra Pradhan continues to face backlash over the very thing he was once protesting against nearly three decades ago. The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke and activist Sonam Wangchuk have been demanding the education minister’s resignation over repeated NEET paper leak and other irregularities in the education system.
During the Chalo Sansad march on July 20, 2026, visuals came out of students allegedly facing the same brutality that Dharmendra Pradhan once faced during his agitation. Since then, several videos have gone viral of protest taking a violent turn from both the sides as Abhijeet Dipke continues the appeal of a peaceful protest while demanding the resignation of the Education minister.
Sonam Wangchuk also continues his hunger strike from the hospital. In his latest letter to the government, Wangchuk claims he was visited by the Minster of Health and Family Welfare, JP Nadda, and Minister of State, Jitendra Singh. Wangchuk writes that he was given assurance that the resignation of Pradhan would be considered and the issue will be taken up in the Parliament monsoon session. Responding to the atrocities faced by students in the protest, the Ladakhi activist maintains that he will continue his hunger strike until the government ensures no action will be taken against the protestors.
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