4 min readNew DelhiJul 27, 2026 10:10 AM IST
First published on: Jul 25, 2026 at 05:46 PM IST
Union Minister for Education Dharmendra Pradhan submitted his resignation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday (July 25), two months after news broke of the NEET-UG exam paper leak.
His resignation comes amidst widespread protests countrywide led by the fledgling Cockroach Janta Party and opposition parties.
Pradhan is only the second minister to resign from a Modi Council of Ministers owing to protests since the BJP came to power in 2014.
Cabinet resignations due to protests have been rare under Modi’s rule. Since the Bharatiya Janata Party came to power in 2014, ministers have either formally resigned ahead of being dropped in reshuffles, been moved to other portfolios or denied a berth in a new Council of Ministers. Here’s a look at the last Modi government minister who had to resign owing to public pressure: M J Akbar.
Recalling MJ Akbar’s resignation
A veteran journalist and former Minister of State, MJ Akbar presided over several newsrooms and served as the Congress MP from Kishanganj, Bihar, between 1989 and 1991. He lost the seat in the next election and resumed his journalistic career until 2014, when he joined the BJP. He was elevated to the Rajya Sabha in 2015 and appointed the Minister of State for External Affairs in the first Modi government in 2016.
At the height of the #MeToo movement in 2018, journalist Priya Ramani named Akbar in a social media post on October 7, alleging sexual harassment. Over the following days, more women colleagues came forward with similar allegations. Akbar, then on an official visit to Nigeria, dismissed these as “baseless” and “fabricated”.
He resigned on October 17, 2018, saying he wanted to fight the allegations in his personal capacity and that he was “deeply grateful” to PM Modi and the then External Affairs Minister, late Sushma Swaraj, for “the opportunity to serve the country”.
“Since I have decided to seek justice in a court of law in my personal capacity, I deem it appropriate to step down from office and challenge false accusations levied against me, also in a personal capacity,” Akbar said at the time.
He had filed a criminal defamation case against Ramani two days before his resignation. A Delhi trial court acquitted her in February 2021, ruling that a “woman can’t be punished for raising her voice against sex abuse” and that the right to reputation can’t override the right to dignity. Akbar appealed, and the Delhi High Court has the case listed for a final hearing.
How have ministers exited Modi governments?
Changes in the Union Council of Ministers have almost always come through Cabinet reshuffles, formal resignations ahead of these reshuffles or the formation of a new government.
The most extensive reshuffle came in July 2021, when 12 ministers, including Health Minister Harsh Vardhan and Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal “Nishank”, exited the Council of Ministers after formally tendering their resignations. The government did not attribute these Covid-time changes to any specific controversy.
Similarly, after the BJP returned to power in 2019 and 2024, several ministers from the outgoing Council of Ministers were not inducted into the new Cabinet.
Even where opposition parties demanded resignations, ministers often remained in office until a Cabinet reshuffle or a new government was formed. Union minister Ajay Mishra Teni, who faced repeated calls to resign after the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence, remained in office until he was dropped from the Modi 3.0 Council of Ministers in 2024.
Earlier, in July 2016, Smriti Irani was shifted from the Human Resource Development Ministry to the Textiles Ministry as part of a Cabinet reshuffle, following the Rohith Vemula protests earlier that year. The government did not officially link the move to the controversy.
Pradhan is only the second minister to resign from a Modi Council of Ministers since the BJP came to power in 2014, and only the second to step down mid-term. (Express Photo) 
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