A political storm has erupted in Odisha following the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Saturday over the NEET paper leak controversy.
Both the Congress and Biju Janata Dal have intensified their demand for the immediate resignation of state School and Mass Education Minister Nityananda Gond, citing widespread errors in textbooks and the larger issue of academic integrity.
Opposition leaders have given the state government a seven-day ultimatum. “If the minister does not step down within seven days, we will hit the streets and call for an Odisha bandh,” declared state Congress president Bhakta Charan Das. He accused the BJP of ignoring the youth and shutting down schemes meant for the poor, claiming that the recent Gen-Z movement has already begun a “countdown” for the ruling party.
Bhakta Das further announced that the Odisha Congress would fully support and fund any Gen-Z agitation in the state. “The country’s youth have changed the face of politics. Why should our children tolerate this injustice?” he asked, insisting that Pradhan’s resignation came under pressure rather than choice, and that the state education minister must follow the same path.
Ruling BJP leaders hit back hard. State BJP general secretary Biranchi Tripathy reminded Congress that paper leaks were routine during their earlier rule in Odisha and at the Centre between 2004 and 2014. Tripathy also pointed to recent leaks in Congress-ruled Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh, questioning the party’s sudden discovery of “morality.”
With both sides digging in, Odisha’s political temperature is rising rapidly. The next seven days will decide whether the demand remains a war of words or spills onto the streets.
