Jul 28, 2026 12:49 pm IST

Opinion | Why Dharmendra Pradhan's Exit Is Also About An 'Age' Problem

India's Gen Z can vote at 18, graduate soon afterwards, and even hold bureaucratic positions after 21. What they still can't do is contest elections before they turn 25.

Rasheed Kidwai Rasheed Kidwai Columnist

Rasheed Kidwai Columnist

Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation carries an irony that Delhi's political durbars should not miss. A politician whose ascent began in student politics has been forced out of the Education Ministry by students who had no party office, no famous surname, or invitation to the national high table.

The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) converted an insult into an identity and an examination scandal into a larger argument about fairness. The ruling NDA government first treated the agitation as a policing problem. It then negotiated, conceded the protesters' principal demands, and accepted Pradhan's resignation. Pralhad Joshi, another senior Cabinet hand, has been given additional charge of Education.

The resignation matters. But India must understand the larger message: young people should not have to besiege Parliament to be heard inside it. Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy put the argument in memorable political shorthand: India's youth should not merely march from Jantar Mantar towards Parliament; they should be enabled to move from sadak se Sansad, that is, from the street into the legislature itself.

Not Yet A Generational Transfer

The immediate official response has been administrative continuity: one veteran replaces another, at least temporarily. Yet the crisis was not merely about who occupied Shastri Bhawan. It was about the distance between those designing India's education system and those living through its examinations, coaching factories, paper leaks, delayed recruitment, and precarious passage from degree to employment.

The next full-time Education Minister should, therefore, be chosen with more imagination. So should the next minister responsible for information technology. These ministries govern the........

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