NEW DELHI: Dharmendra Pradhan’s career has come full circle – the student activist from Odisha has now been forced to step down due to student activism. The 57-year-old becomes the second minister in the BJP-led government since 2014 to quit his post before time – the previous one being M J Akbar, who was forced to step down as Minister of State for External Affairs due to the #Metoo movement.
The country’s 30th Education Minister, an influential leader in the BJP and perceived close to PM Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, had a challenging period during the last six months.
One controversy followed another in the education department due to drastic changes attempted by government in the education system or books and irregularities pertaining to career-defining examinations for students.
The MP from Odisha’s Sambalpur debuted as Education Minister on July 7, 2021, and was given the same role in the third stint of the Modi government. Prior to that, he had held the portfolios of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Steel as well as Skill Development and Entrepreneurship in the last 12 years of the BJP government. He has represented Bihar and MP in the Rajya Sabha.
Born on June 26, 1969, in Talcher of Odisha’s Angul district, he studied BA at Talcher College. He was elected as the president of the Talcher College Students’ Union and then got associated with the ABVP.
He completed his MA in Anthropology from Utkal University in Bhubaneswar in 1990. His father late Debendra Pradhan had been associated with the RSS. The senior Pradhan joined the BJP in 1980 and served as the Union Surface Transport Minister from 1998 to 2001.
As the ABVP state general secretary, Dharmendra Pradhan spearheaded a protest against the then Congress government led by J.B. Patnaik over the Class 12 board exam paper leak in 1996. He became the ABVP national secretary in 1995. His outreach and organisational skills played a key role for BJP coming to power for the first time in Odisha, unseating popular Naveen Patnaik in 2024.
Pradhan had been a go-to man for the BJP and served as the in-charge for polls in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, Karnataka, and Madhya Pradesh. He had been popularising the National Education Policy 2020, which is restructuring school and higher education. NEET paper leak was a major controversy Pradhan has faced.
