Before CJP face-off, Rajasthan education minister’s long list of controversies

During the last two-and-a-half years of the Bhajan Lal Sharma-led BJP government, Dilawar has been in the line of the Congress’s fire over a slew of rows and controversial remarks.

Now, the CJP has turned up the heat on Dilawar. Following the outfit’s move to inspect schools in Rajasthan under its countrywide “School Thik Karo” campaign, the BJP government recently imposed restrictions on entry of outsiders and taking photos and videos in government schools, citing privacy of students.

Divisive pitch

A six-time legislator, Dilawar has been embroiled in multiple rows in his career, especially after he took charge as the Education Minister in December 2023 following the BJP’s return to power in the state.

In January 2021, Dilawar had slammed the farm agitation against the now-repealed central agricultural laws, saying “so-called farmers” were enjoying dry fruits, chicken biryani and other luxuries at protest sites and that it was a “conspiracy to spread bird flu”.

Speaking in the Assembly in September 2021, Dilawar called Mewat a “mini-Pakistan”, alleging that the Braj region has become a “den of terrorists and goons” where cow slaughter and atrocities against girls were rampant coupled with the replacement of destroyed temples with mosques.

In another Assembly speech, in March 2023, he called the Congress’s state in-charge Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa a “terrorist”.

In May 2023, referring to Mallikarjun Kharge, Dilawar said the “Congress president, who is 80 years old, bhagwan kabhi bhi unko utha sakta hai (God can summon him anytime) but I would pray to God to not call him for 200 years.”

After being booked in a murder case for his Kharge remarks, he said in October 2023 that “As per Congress, in the FIR, the Congress president has been murdered by Madan Dilawar. As per Congress, Mallikarjun Kharge is dead; a dead person is coming to Baran. So, the people of Baran should be careful, koi pret aatma toh nahi aa rahi hai (whether any ghost is coming).”

2024: ‘DNA test’ remark

In February 2024, the Education Department directed schools to hold “surya namaskar”, amid opposition by Muslim groups who pointed out that Muslims only pray to God.

In the same month, Minister Dilawar suspended three Muslim teachers at a government school in Kota, alleging that there is a “conspiracy of religious conversion, love jihad, and Hindu girls are forcefully being made to offer namaz.” However, a spot visit by The Indian Express then found school staff, local education officials and several villagers denying any conversion attempts, with inquiries finding no evidence beyond a few disputed student statements.

In June 2024, Dilawar said the heat wave was “the result of Congress’s kukarm (misdeeds)”.

In the same month, he said he will get a DNA test conducted on tribal leader and MP Rajkumar Roat to verify his ancestry, objecting to Roat’s stand that he and his supporters were not Hindus.

In July 2024, the Education Department announced that Vir Savarkar Jayanti will be marked in schools on May 28 and Swarna Mukut Mastak Diwas will be held on August 5 to celebrate the abrogation of Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir, apart from Matr Pitr Diwas on February 14 and Surya Namaskar Diwas on February 4. Referring to the Hindutva ideologue’s event, Congress state president Govind Singh Dotasra castigated the “politicisation of education”.

In September that year, Dilawar announced that the bicycles given to schoolgirls would be saffron – a shift from black during the Congress regime – reasoning that their colour was saffron under the previous BJP government (2013-18).

In the same month, he accused the Congress of being “always in favour of terrorists”, alleging that “Sonia Gandhi had wept bitterly over terrorists killed in Batla House encounter as admitted by Rahul Gandhi himself”.

In October, referring to female teachers, he said that “kai beheno ko dekhta hun, jo ache kapde nahi pehenti, poora shareer dikha kar ke school mein jaati hain (I see several sisters who do not wear proper clothes and go to school exposing their entire body),” which, he added, led to “bad sanskaar” among students.

2025: Targeting Akbar

In January 2025, amid a spike in student suicides, Dilawar said some cases were also caused by “prem-prasang (love affairs)”, prompting Dotasra to say, “I request the CM (Bhajan Lal Sharma) to save the state – make Dilawar the CM but please hand over Education Department to someone else.”

In March 2025, he said Mughal emperor Akbar was a “rapist and looter”. “It pains you and I so much what they used to teach about the great men (of the country). They tried to belittle Maharana Pratap. And Akbar, who used to set up ‘meena bazaar’, was a rapist, an invader and a looter, was called as great. This was an insult to the country, of our great men. This cannot be tolerated.” In February 2024 too, he had said that even “taking Akbar’s name in India is a sin”.

In June 2025, Dilawar stoked another controversy by saying, “Main alag prakar ka aadmi hun, gaushalaon ke khilaf hun (I am a different kind of person, I am against cow shelters).” Later, he claimed that several Congress leaders allegedly siphoned of government funds in the name of gaushalas and that he was actually against them.

In November 2025, orders were issued, and withdrawn, twice by the state government to schools to “celebrate” the Babri Masjid demolition day (December 6) as “Shaurya Diwas”, with Primary and Secondary Education Director Sita Ram Jat maintaining that he did not issue any such orders. However, in the second instance, the official statement accompanying the government order had stated that it was decided upon instructions from Minister Dilawar.

‘NEET leak not a big deal’

In May 2026, following the NEET paper leak, Dilawar said, “The investigating agencies must have found that there are some irregularities and decided to cancel it. Toh is mein koi badi baat nahi hai (So it isn’t a big deal). Wherever irregularities are found, the government will work to fix it.” Incidentally, Dilawar was among the BJP leaders whose photos had emerged with the paper leak accused, Dinesh Biwal and Mangilal Biwal from Jamwa Ramgarh, who were arrested by the CBI.

In July, he also justified the police crackdown on student protesters during the CJP’s march in New Delhi, saying it was “less” considering the “hooliganism” there.

Jhalawar school collapse

The biggest controversy of Dilawar’s tenure has been the collapse of a Jhalawar government school in July 2025 in which seven students were killed and eight seriously wounded.

The Jhalawar case prompted a statewide audit of schools which revealed that of the 63,018 government schools in the state, 5,667 were “completely dilapidated”. And while 2,91,713 class rooms were found to be safe, nearly 86,934 were completely dilapidated. Additionally, 1,58,467 rooms with tiled roofs and 51,026 with a reinforced cement concrete (RCC) roof qualified for “major repair”. As regards toilets, 36,154 were found to be fine while 17,109 were completely dilapidated and 29,093 found repairable.

Dilawar also drew flak just a day after the Jhalawar incident during his visit to Bharatpur, where he was welcomed with slogans, drum-beating and garlands.