Congress leader Pawan Khera on Friday targeted Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan by responding to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's birthday wishes for the minister on X with a post listing the names of several deceased NEET aspirants.
Earlier in the day, Modi extended birthday greetings to Pradhan, praising his efforts in implementing the National Education Policy (NEP).
“Birthday wishes to Union Minister Shri Dharmendra Pradhan Ji. He is making commendable efforts towards the implementation of the National Education Policy, which seeks to make India a hub for knowledge, learning and innovation. Praying for his long and healthy life,” the Prime Minister wrote on X.
Replying to the post, Khera wrote, “Dear Dharmendra Uncle, Happy Birthday. You turn 57 today. We couldn't even reach half your age.”
He followed the message with a list of names of students identified as deceased NEET aspirants, including Ritik Mishra, Anshika Pandey, Bhagyashree, Umesh Mali, Riya Kumari Thapa, Anukeerthana, Rima Begum, Siddharth Hegde, Pradeep Meghwal, Shivani Yadav, Renu Meena, Akansha, Kahan Patel and Maithili Sonwane.
Khera's post comes amid continued Opposition criticism of the Centre over alleged irregularities in competitive examinations and reports of student deaths, including among NEET aspirants.
A day earlier, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also launched a sharp attack on Pradhan, accusing him of insulting students and demanding that he apologise to the country's youth and resign.
In a post on X, Gandhi alleged that the Centre had become arrogant and was targeting students raising concerns over their rights, fair examinations and employment.
“Drowned in the arrogance of power, the Modi government has now reached a point where the Education Minister is calling students, who are merely demanding their rights, fair examinations, and a secure future ‘terrorists’,” he wrote.
Pradhan had launched a strong attack on the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), describing the organisation as the “B team of terrorists” amid its ongoing campaign seeking his resignation over alleged irregularities in competitive examinations.
Gandhi further alleged that repeated examination paper leaks and failures in the education system had harmed the future of millions of students.
“Just think about it, the one whose failures led to so many paper leaks, under whose rule 20 children lost their lives, who has pushed the futures of millions of youth into darkness, is today labelling the suffering children and those raising their voices as ‘terrorists’. But this is nothing new: Farmers, the nation's food providers, were called ‘professional agitators and parasites’. Those who ask questions were branded ‘Anti-National’. And now, the youth are being called ‘terrorists’,” he said.
The political exchange comes days after the re-examination for the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET-UG) 2026 concluded on June 21 across the country and at 14 overseas centres, even as the examination process remained under the shadow of the paper leak controversy.
