Updated on: 25 Jul 2026
New Delhi: Union Minister Pralhad Joshi was on Saturday given additional charge of the Ministry of Education after President Droupadi Murmu accepted the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan from the Union Council of Ministers following widespread student-led protests across the country over the alleged NEET paper leak.
Pradhan’s resignation was accepted with immediate effect. Joshi will continue to handle his existing portfolios while also taking charge of the Education Ministry.
According to an official statement issued by Rashtrapati Bhavan, “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.”
Pralhad Joshi, a Lok Sabha MP from Karnataka’s Dharwad constituency, currently serves as the Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. During an earlier term in the Union government, he also held the Coal, Mines and Parliamentary Affairs portfolios.
The development came after Dharmendra Pradhan announced that he had submitted his resignation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, stating that he had done so in the interest of students and to ensure that the ongoing protests over alleged examination irregularities were not misused by “anti-national forces.” His resignation followed weeks of nationwide demonstrations demanding transparency, accountability and reforms in the examination system.
Meanwhile, the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) announced that it was withdrawing its 37-day-long agitation at Jantar Mantar in “good faith” after Pradhan stepped down from the Council of Ministers and the organisation received assurances from the government regarding its other demands. Addressing a press conference at the Constitution Club in New Delhi, CJP Chief Spokesperson Saurav Das said the outfit was ending the protest with the understanding that the agreed commitments would be implemented within the stipulated timelines.
Following the third round of talks with Union Ministers JP Nadda and Jitendra Singh at the Constitution Club, the CJP said the Centre had agreed to provide suitable compensation to the families of NEET aspirants who died by suicide and assured that FIRs registered against protesters across the country would be withdrawn.
Union Minister JP Nadda also said the government had accepted the demands raised by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) on reforms in the education examination system and other issues linked to the protests.
Nadda added that the government would carefully examine the organisation’s five-point charter on examination reforms and take the necessary steps after detailed discussions.
