Daily Briefing: How Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation set off a political chain reaction across three states

Before accepting Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation as Union Education Minister, the Centre explored a compromise by offering to shift him to another ministry while appointing a new Education Minister in an attempt to defuse the nationwide NEET protests. However, the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) rejected the proposal, insisting that only Pradhan’s resignation would satisfy protesters. The offer was conveyed during talks by Union ministers J P Nadda and Jitendra Singh, even as the Centre agreed to several other demands, including compensation for families of NEET aspirants who died by suicide and the withdrawal of most FIRs against protesters. As negotiations dragged on and public pressure intensified, the government ultimately accepted Pradhan’s resignation, bringing the CJP’s 36-day protest at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar to an end.

Ripple effect

Meanwhile, the political fallout from Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation has spread beyond the Centre, with Opposition parties in Odisha and Chhattisgarh stepping up demands for accountability from their respective state governments. In Odisha, the BJD and Congress have renewed calls for School and Mass Education Minister Nityananda Gond to quit over textbook errors, while in Chhattisgarh, the Congress has sought the resignation of School Education Minister Ramvichar Netam over alleged failures in the education sector. Drawing parallels with the NEET controversy, the Opposition argues that the same standards of ministerial accountability should apply at the state level. The BJP, however, has rejected the comparison, saying the issues are unrelated and accusing its rivals of using Pradhan’s exit to score political points.

Punjab’s turn

The political fallout from the NEET controversy has now reached Punjab, with the Opposition demanding the resignation of Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains over alleged exam irregularities under the AAP government. The row intensified after Manish Sisodia said the party would sack the state’s education minister if a paper leak occurred, prompting rivals to highlight a string of alleged exam controversies. Bains has denied the allegations, while Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and Sisodia have defended the government, saying the incidents involved cheating attempts rather than actual paper leaks.

⚡ Only in Express

The debate over restoring Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood should not be conflated with the demand for the restoration of Article 370, argues Nasir Lone who is the writer is media panellist, Jammu & Kashmir National Conference, asserting that the two address distinct constitutional and democratic questions. While Article 370 concerns J&K’s constitutional relationship with the Union, statehood is about restoring democratic accountability by giving an elected government full governing powers. The piece contends that, unlike Article 370, the Centre has repeatedly promised to restore statehood, making the continuing delay difficult to justify, especially after the 2024 Assembly elections. It argues that elected representatives cannot be held accountable without adequate executive authority and that restoring statehood is a necessary step towards strengthening democracy in the Union Territory, without undermining the broader constitutional debate over Article 370.

📰 From the Front Page

FIRs dropped: Hours after the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) warned it would resume nationwide protests unless the Centre provided a written assurance on withdrawing FIRs against NEET protesters, the Bihar and Assam governments announced they would drop all cases and release those arrested in connection with the exam paper leak agitation. Bihar said no punitive action would be taken against protesters before the July 26 cut-off and promised to withdraw FIRs and expedite releases, while Assam announced similar measures. The CJP also launched a nationwide legal aid network, backed by a Rs 1 crore corpus announced by Kapil Sibal, to support protesters facing criminal cases. However, West Bengal has not issued any such order and continues its crackdown, with seven FIRs registered and 16 arrests following the July 24 Kolkata protest. The developments come amid mounting political pressure and criticism over police action against student demonstrators.

📌 Must Read

Behind the locked gates of Barrack 2B at Meerut’s Chaudhary Charan Singh District Jail, five women accused in separate, headline-grabbing cases of killing their husbands now share the same daily routine. Muskaan Rastogi, Ravita Kashyap, Anjali Kumari, Komal Singh and Damini Panwar face allegations ranging from dismemberment and staged snakebite deaths to contract killings and shootings, with all but Damini already chargesheeted and awaiting trial. Though their cases are unrelated, prison officials say they were housed together because they posed no disciplinary concerns. Today, the women spend their days stitching, working in the prison library and following the jail’s regimented schedule, gradually settling into life behind bars. The barrack’s youngest resident, however, is not an accused but Muskaan’s infant daughter, whose presence has brought an unexpected touch of warmth to one of the prison’s most closely watched cells.

⏳ And Finally…

Before he stood on the Commonwealth Games podium with a silver medal around his neck, Rishikanta Singh Chanambam spent his childhood washing utensils at a roadside dhaba and working at construction sites in Manipur for Rs 150 a day to help feed his family. Growing up in poverty, he often survived on a single meal, making regular food a luxury rather than a certainty. A chance encounter with a coach at a village fair changed the course of his life, introducing him to weightlifting and, at a Sports Authority of India academy, the promise of regular meals. Though financial hardship briefly forced him to quit the sport, Rishikanta fought his way back, becoming a national champion, Commonwealth Championships gold medallist and Indian Navy Petty Officer. Now, as the first male weightlifter from Manipur to win a Commonwealth Games medal, he says his silver belongs to everyone who has struggled against poverty with little support.

🎧 Before you go, tune in to today’s 3 Things podcast. We cover the devastating Assam floods, unpack Mumbai’s Rs 10-crore “boss scam”, and discuss former Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s first Parliament appearance after his resignation, which was marked by cheers from BJP MPs and protests from the Opposition.

That’s all for today, folks! Until tomorrow, 

Anupama