‘No reshuffle, sack Pradhan’: Rahul Gandhi backs protesting students

#WATCH | LoP, Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi says, “…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 Mr. Modi’s cabinet… pic.twitter.com/hKoXOQ4SSz

— ANI (@ANI) July 25, 2026

He asserted that students were demanding Pradhan’s dismissal, not a reshuffle.

“There is going to be no conversation about Mr Dharmendra Pradhan being moved here, moved there, put behind, forward, nothing. Dharmendra Pradhan has to be sacked,” he said.

Calling the minister “a symbol of corruption”, Gandhi alleged that Pradhan represented the failure of the education system and the damage caused to students’ futures.

“He is a symbol of corruption and of what has happened to the future of India’s children. He is a symbol of the destruction of the most valuable thing that this country has, which is our students and their future,” he said.

Gandhi said the protesting students had three non-negotiable demands, the foremost being Pradhan’s removal from office. “The Education Minister, who is corrupt, incompetent and misaligned, has to be sacked,” he said.

The remarks come as the students’ protest at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar entered its second month. Protesters, led by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), have been demanding Pradhan’s resignation over alleged paper leaks and irregularities in the conduct of NEET and other entrance examinations.