Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation superficial, RSS runs India's education ministry: Rahul Gandhi

Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation as Union Education Minister was "a superficial thing" because Pradhan never actually ran the ministry, alleging instead that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) controls India's education system.

Speaking in the Lok Sabha during the debate on the alleged NEET-UG paper leak, Gandhi said the resignation would not change anything on the ground. "The resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan is a superficial thing because he never ran the education ministry. The organisation who runs the ministry is the RSS," he said. He also added, "Pradhan is the symbol that the dear enemy is the RSS"

Also read: Rahul Gandhi's 'idiot, andhbhakt' jibe creates ruckus in Lok Sabha during NEET debate


Gandhi alleged that RSS influence extended across higher education institutions. "Every single university in India has a vice chancellor from RSS," he said, adding that the current system disproportionately burdened poorer families. "Our system is terrible, lakhs and lakhs of rupees are taken from the poor people. The rampant system is captured by the RSS."

He also targeted the government's response to student protests over the alleged paper leak, saying families of affected students had been unable to push back against the ruling establishment while students themselves had shown resolve. "The parents of these children did not have the courage to face BJP and RSS. Yet these brave and powerful students stood there and faced whatever you could throw at them," Gandhi said.

Earlier in his address, Gandhi had drawn a distinction between three categories of people in the country: students, "idiots" and "andhbhakts". He said students recognise that knowledge is constantly evolving, while "idiots" believe they already know everything and refuse to consider other perspectives. He described "andhbhakts" as those who "hollow India's roots."

Rijiju also criticised Gandhi's political rhetoric, saying, Rahul Gandhi is using all kinds of undemocratic and very abusive language, which is not in keeping with the correct discourse in a parliamentary democracy. One must use civilised and soft language.

"We may differ with each other, but the kind of abusive and demeaning language Rahul ji uses is not good for democracy and not good for our country," the minister said.

The remarks triggered an uproar in the House, prompting Speaker Om Birla to ask Gandhi to confine his speech to the subject under discussion.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju objected to the use of what he termed an "unparliamentary" expression, following which the Speaker directed that the word be expunged from the proceedings.

Recalling a conversation with a student that shaped this framing, Gandhi said, "She said the student wears the truth on his/her chest proudly. I said, what about the other type? She said the other type requires an image. It requires an image and as the image is not true because the idiot is trying to pretend that he is God, he has to create this massive image." He said he had then asked where the third category, the "andhbhakt", fit in. "She said, 'andhbhakt' is a person who is absolutely convinced that another idiot is God," Gandhi said, using the framing to describe the RSS.

Ahead of Gandhi's remarks, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju accused the Congress and other Opposition parties of using the debate to divert attention from the Bill under discussion. "Congress leaders did not speak on the Bill at all. They were only doing politics. We hope Rahul Gandhi and other opposition leaders will speak on the Bill today," Rijiju said, adding that the Opposition was "politicising" the issue.