Former Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Saturday said he stepped down from the post after attempts were made to "mislead" Gen Z during protests over the NEET paper leak controversy.
Speaking to students and teachers at GM University in Sambalpur, the BJP leader and Sambalpur MP broke his silence on his resignation, two weeks after leaving the Union Council of Ministers amid widespread protests in Delhi.
"Gen Z is our children. Some people attempted to mislead them. I had no personal issues then. At least two crore children are born in India every year. During the last 10 years, 20 crore children were born. They have aspirations, and they will make India the 'Vishwa Guru'. The post was not important to me," Pradhan said.
Pradhan said he had approached Prime Minister Narendra Modi and offered to resign. He stepped down as Education Minister on July 25.
At a separate meeting in Rairakhol, Pradhan targeted former Odisha chief minister and BJD president Naveen Patnaik over protests by BJD workers and slogans calling for him to "go back".
Responding to a protest by BJD youth and student wing activists near the airport, he said, "I am a farmer's son. Even if you tell me to go back, I will come back."
"Naveen Babu also calls me a disgrace to the people of Odisha and a bad person," Pradhan said, accusing Patnaik of involving youths in protests against him.
"Have I ever done anything that will shame the people of Odisha?" he asked, drawing a loud response of "No" from the gathering.
"I may not be bringing laurels for the state, but I have never disgraced the people by my work. I will never do any work which will tarnish the state's reputation," he said.
Pradhan said he became a Union minister 12 years ago with the blessings of Lord Jagannath and Goddess Samaleswari, the presiding deity of Sambalpur.
BJD MLA and deputy leader in the Odisha Assembly Prasanna Acharya was also present at the event.
"Keeping in view the BJD's protests, I had consulted Prasanna Bhai whether I should go. Prasanna Babu told me to come and assured me that I would be welcomed. I came here after taking his permission," Pradhan said.
BJD's Sambalpur district president and former minister Rohit Pujari rejected Pradhan's allegations, saying criticism of the BJP leader stemmed from the government's handling of the student protests.
"Nobody had defamed Pradhan. His party and government have defamed him by police resorting to lathi-charge, tear gas and atrocities during the peaceful student agitation at Jantar Mantar. Pradhan was facing criticism because of such incidents. I do not understand why he blames Patnaik for the police excesses on agitating students," Pujari said.
"Why would Patnaik want to defame him? The whole country knows that 21 children died by suicide because of him. Of the 22 lakh students who appeared for the examination, around 21 lakh students must be under depression. Nobody needs to defame him; he has defamed himself," the BJD leader claimed.
Pujari said the BJP government's "wrong policy" had brought a bad name to Pradhan.
Meanwhile, police detained around 30 BJD workers in Sambalpur as a precautionary measure, anticipating protests by the party's youth and student wings.
(With inputs from PTI)
