New Delhi: Days after resigning as the union education minister, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MPs on Monday welcomed Dharmendra Pradhan to Parliament.
The BJP MPs raised "Dharmendra Pradhan zindabad" slogans as the former union minister headed towards the Parliament complex. However, the Congress hit out at the BJP for hailing Pradhan. Notably, on Saturday, the MP from Odisha resigned as the union education minister after a month-long protest led by the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP), a satirical movement, at Delhi's Janata Mantar over the NEET UG paper leak. A large number of students participated in the protest. They were demanding Pradhan's resignation.
Former Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan was welcomed by BJP MPs as he arrived at Parliament | WATCH pic.twitter.com/lRDbTRZkVf
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Reacting to the BJP MPs welcoming Pradhan, Congress MP Renuka Chaudhary said the BJP government has "zero" values as they were hailing Pradhan as a "hero".
"They did the same thing with rapists of Bilkis Bano. It is their habit... This government has zero values," Chaudhary told media.
Pradhan, on Saturday, July 25, submitted his resignation from the post in the wake of the protest at Jantar Mantar. Pradhan said he is disturbed to see the series of events that have unfolded in the last 10 days and sent his resignation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "I took responsibility for the NEET paper leak from day one," he had said.
In his resignation letter, Pradhan stated that he was stepping down in the larger interest of students to ensure that the country's youth do not become "trapped in a web of confusion."
"...To ensure that anti-national elements are not benefited by the situation at Jantar Mantar and across the country, that the nation remains united, students in India do not get tangled in legal complexities and focus on their studies and their career, I have tendered my resignation to the Prime Minister..," read the letter.
