'Sack Pradhan from Cabinet': Rahul says ministerial reshuffle won't quell protest

Rahul Gandhi said Dharmendra Pradhan “has to be sacked” without being “moved”.

NEW DELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi Saturday said the ongoing protest againt the NEET paper leak would not subside in case Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan is moved to different ministry in much-awaited Cabinet reshuffle.Calling Pradhan “corrupt and incompetent,” the Congress leader called him of being “a symbol of the destruction of the most valuable thing that this country has, which is our students and their future”.“Students have three demands, and these are not negotiable demands… The first demand is that the Education Minister, who is corrupt, incompetent, and misaligned, has to be sacked… There’s some talk going on in Modi’s cabinet that the solution is to move Dharmendra Pradhan from education to some other ministry. This is not acceptable to the students of India. It is not acceptable to anybody,” the Congress leader said.Gandhi said Dharmendra Pradhan “has to be sacked” without being “moved”.“… there is going to be no conversation about Dharmendra Pradhan being moved here, moved there, put behind, forward, nothing. Dharmendra Pradhan has to be sacked.”Earlier, the Lok Sabha leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi stepped up his attack on the Narendra Modi-led Centre, accusing it of taking “cruel steps” against students protesting over the NEET paper leak issue at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar.Referring to the restrictions imposed in the national capital, including the closure of metro stations, roads, internet services and food supplies, Rahul Gandhi alleged that the government was trying to suppress the student movement.In a post on X, he wrote: “Shut down the metro. Shut down the roads. Shut down the shops. Shut down the Internet. Shut down the food.”The Congress leader’s remarks come a day after he accused the Centre and the Delhi Police of “barbarity” during the July 20 “Sansad Chalo” march led by the Cockroach Janta Party over alleged paper leaks.Sharing a video of a student who was allegedly injured after being hit by pellets during the protest, Rahul claimed the government had surpassed even the British era in its treatment of students.