Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday described Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation as "a huge step towards rebuilding our education system", while congratulating students across the country for sustaining protests over the alleged NEET paper leak.
Sharing a video on X, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said the resignation marked an important victory for students who had "stood firm to protect democracy, the Constitution, and their future" adding that "the time has come to remove this government."
"Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation is a huge step towards reshaping our education system. Well done to students across the country; we are proud of all of you. Heartiest congratulations to every young person, every student who took to the streets and stood firm to protect democracy, the Constitution, and their future," he wrote.
Gandhi said the movement's objectives had not yet been fully achieved, adding that two key demands remained.
"2 demands still remain - the Prime Minister should apologize while respecting the students and India's future, and action should be taken against those guilty of violence against students," he said.
He also said Pradhan's resignation should encourage other sections of society to continue raising their voices through constitutional means.
"For other sections of society—farmers, laborers, the poor, every person whom this government has suppressed and crushed—true courage lies in standing firm in a constitutional manner for one's dignity. The time has come to remove this government. Don't be afraid!," Gandhi wrote.
'Victory for students, but not the end'
Meanwhile, the Congress on Saturday called Pradhan's resignation was a victory for the students who maintained sustained pressure but on the government but this was not the end as the prime minister is yet to apologise to the students.
The opposition party called it a victory for a generation tired of struggling in an "unfair and corrupt" system, and for an opposition that demonstrated rock solid unity and solidarity with the students.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said Pradhan's resignation was a "victory of truth" and a defeat of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "stubbornness".
He also said it was Prime Minister Narendra Modi's turn to apologise and take strict action against all those who used lathis, batons and pellet guns against the agitating students.
In his first reaction after Pradhan resigned, Kharge said, "The echo of India's students has finally reached the doors of the arrogant power."
"This is the victory of our millions of youth who raised their voices on the streets across the country to fix the education system... This is the victory of truth and the defeat of Mr Modi's stubbornness," he said.
Kharge also termed it a victory for families who lost "their blood, their children" because of the government's "corruption".
"This is the victory of the united opposition, who raised their voices from Parliament to the streets in the interest of the students.
"Now it is Mr Modi's turn to apologise to our young generation and to take strict action against those who unleashed lathis, batons and pellet guns on them," Kharge said.
Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Saturday welcomed the resignation of Pradhan, saying the government had been "forced to bend" before the youth and students of India.
Vadra termed the development a victory for the country's youth and students, "who did not bend".
"Force was used against them. Pellet guns, water cannons and tear gas were used against them. But the youth and the students did not bend; the government had to bend. It is a victory for the youth and students of India. I was really and truly happy when I heard the news," she told reporters in Wayanad, following reports of Pradhan's resignation.
Priyanka said she became emotional because she had been wondering for the past 10-12 years, "When will we wake up? When will our young people realise what is being done to our country and how it is being destroyed by these people?"
"I am so happy today that the young people of India, the students, have fought this battle bravely and have won it," Vadra said with a smile.
She said the country's students had begun taking matters into their own hands and had proved that "if you stand up for what is right, every right-thinking Indian, everyone who believes in the Constitution, everyone who respects the freedom struggle, will stand by you".
The Congress MP said the students had also shown that if one stood against all odds in the way Mahatma Gandhi did - "non-violently, truthfully, with courage in your hearts" - they would prevail, no matter who they were up against.
Congress general secretary, in-charge of communications, Jairam Ramesh said, "This is not the end. We still await the prime minister's apology to our students".
He said they still demanded accountability from those who perpetrated atrocities on them, including the use of pellet guns on protestors.
"The incompetent, callous, and arrogant Mantri Pradhan has finally been compelled to resign. It was sustained youth pressure that finally forced the Pradhan Mantri to stop giving him political cover. This is a victory for a generation that is tired of struggling in an unfair and corrupt system, and an Opposition that has demonstrated rock-solid unity and solidarity with the students," the Congress leader said.
Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned from his post on Saturday afternoon following Cockroach Janta Party-led student protests across the country for his ouster over the NEET paper leak issue.
Pradhan said it is not a matter of "individual prestige" for him and he is disturbed to see the series of events that have unfolded in the last 10 days.
"I took responsibility for the NEET paper leak from day one," he said, adding that anti-national forces should not be allowed to take advantage of the situation at Jantar Mantar and across country.
