4 minute learnBhubaneswar, raipurJuly 28, 2026 07:32 AM (IST)
Date first revealed: July 28, 2026, 7:32 AM IST
Opposition events, college students and activists in Odisha and Chhattisgarh have stepped up their calls for for the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan because the Union training minister on Saturday following mass youth-led protests in Delhi and different elements of the nation over the leak of NEET query papers.
In Pradhan’s residence state of Odisha, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and the Congress intensified their marketing campaign in opposition to state college and mass training minister Nityananda Gond over errors in class textbooks.
Opposition chief Naveen Patnaik stated Gond ought to “comply with the instance of Dharmendra Pradhan” and resign. “There have been many errors within the textbooks given to college students in our state. He (Gond) ought to comply with the instance of Dharmendra Pradhan and resign from his put up,” Patnaik stated, including that the BJD had been demanding his resignation for a number of weeks.
The BJD has launched an agitation throughout the state on the problem and protests are anticipated to accentuate. The Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee additionally issued a seven-day ultimatum and threatened to maintain the Odisha bandh alive if Gond didn’t resign.
The controversy erupted after 1,678 errors, together with factual inaccuracies, grammatical errors, spelling errors and incorrect references, had been detected in 55 SCERT textbooks for lessons 1 to eight. The best variety of errors (705) had been discovered at school 8 textbooks. Among the many errors had been the Niyamgiri Hills being stated to be in Jharkhand and never Orissa, the Karnataka State Meeting being stated to be the Vidhan Sabha of Orissa, Sir Isaac Newton being stated to be the ‘Nice Pilot’, and the historic web site of Hampi in Karnataka being stated to be the Konark Solar Temple.
The Odisha authorities had initially suspended 4 senior officers, together with the director common of the State Council of Instructional Analysis and Coaching (SCERT), earlier than Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi ordered a probe into the crime department alleging a “bigger conspiracy”. The crime department then arrested former SCERT chief Manoj Kumar Padhi on prices of felony conspiracy and negligence in approving textbooks with out verifying their factual, scientific and geographical accuracy, leading to an estimated lack of Rs 175 million to the nationwide exchequer.
Hitting again on the opposition, celebration MLA Laxman Munda stated the BJD had presided over a number of irregularities throughout its tenure and had by no means demanded the resignation of the minister at the moment.
Raipur protests
In Chhattisgarh, greater than 100 college students, activists and politicians gathered in Raipur on Sunday to demand the resignation of college training minister Gajendra Yadav, compensation for the households of NEET aspirants who dedicated suicide and reforms to the training system.
Among the many protesters was analysis scholar Sonam Bansod, who stated that whereas Pradhan’s demand for resignation had been fulfilled, she was now demanding compensation for Harika Rao Naidu, a 20-year-old NEET aspirant from Jagdalpur who dedicated suicide after failing to clear the re-examination performed after the paper was leaked. The protesters additionally cited the leak of Class 12 Hindi examination papers earlier this yr.
“Our foremost demand for Pradhan’s resignation has been fulfilled. Our second demand is compensation for Harika Rao Naidu, whose identify isn’t included within the listing of scholars who died by suicide. Third, we demand the resignation of state training minister Gajendra Yadav, who has stated that Dharmendra Pradhan ought to withdraw his resignation,” Bansod stated.
The Congress youth wing additionally took half within the protest and demanded Yadav’s resignation. Chhattisgarh Congress Public Relations Director Sushil Anand Shukla informed The Indian Specific, “The Congress celebration is demanding Gajendra Yadav’s resignation as a result of he has didn’t fill the large variety of trainer vacancies within the state for the previous two-and-a-half years, resulting in the closure of hundreds of presidency faculties throughout his tenure.”
Hitting again on the Congress, BJP spokesperson Kedar Gupta stated, “The extent of training in Chhattisgarh has improved beneath the management of Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai and the outcomes are a lot better when in comparison with the efficiency in the course of the Congress rule.” He stated there was “no query” in regards to the state training minister’s resignation, including: “We welcome real protests, however the Congress celebration desires to deprive college students of political advantages.”
