Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation as Union Education Minister marks an unusual interlude in a political career that had enjoyed a steady rise. A controversy of such magnitude engulfed him that it became a contest between his staying in office and addressing the anxieties of an entire generation, with GenZ protests ultimately emerging victorious.

Nothing in Mr. Pradhan’s career had foreshadowed such a denouncement. Born in Talcher, Odisha, in 1969, he comes from a family long associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), the ideological parent organisation of the BJP. His late father, Debendra Pradhan, was an RSS functionary, who joined the BJP in 1980. Mr. Pradhan’s father was elected to the Lok Sabha from Deogarh and served as Union Minister for Surface Transport in the Vajpayee government from 1998 to 2001.

Published - July 25, 2026 04:47 pm IST