- The Centre first proposed shifting Dharmendra Pradhan from Education to another ministry
- Union Ministers JP Nadda and Jitendra Singh led talks with CJP protesters on July 20
- CJP rejected portfolio change, demanding Pradhan's full resignation to end protests
As the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protests raged in the national capital last week demanding Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation as Education Minister, the Centre's first proposal to the CJP was to change Pradhan's portfolio.
Sources have told NDTV that the proposal to change Pradhan's ministry was conveyed to the CJP team by Union Ministers JP Nadda and Jitendra Singh, who were negotiating with the group.
Nadda and Singh met the CJP team at the former's residence on July 20 for the first time, even as a massive crackdown on protesters was taking place on the streets of the capital during the Parliament march call given by the protesters.
Sources said that Nadda and Singh offered to shift Pradhan from Education to a different ministry as a way to end the impasse, but it was rejected by CJP negotiators Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka.
The CJP was adamant on Pradhan's exit from the government and had made it clear that nothing short of his resignation would satisfy the protesters.
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According to sources, the Union ministers told the CJP that removing a minister or changing a portfolio is the Prime Minister's prerogative.
The CJP maintained that there would be no compromise other than Pradhan's resignation. Sources also added that the CJP negotiators believed that agreeing to anything less than a resignation would trigger a sharp backlash among the protesters.
Dharmendra Pradhan resigned as Education Minister on Saturday afternoon, just hours before the third round of talks between the CJP and Union ministers. After that, the CJP called off its protest.
Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi had also made it clear that merely changing Pradhan's portfolio won't cut any ice with the students or the Opposition.
He had also insisted on Pradhan's ouster from the government.
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"Dharmendra Pradhan is a symbol of the mess in the education system. He must go," Gandhi had said.
In his resignation note, Pradhan stated that he had stepped down to stop what he called anti-national forces from exploiting the agitation over examination paper leaks.
"So that anti-national forces do not take advantage of the situation that has arisen at Jantar Mantar and across the country, so that the unity of the country remains intact, so that the future of not a single student of India gets entangled in legal complexities, and so that our children invest their time in studying and focus on building their careers - considering all these aspects, I have submitted my resignation to the Honourable Prime Minister," he said in a two-page note in Hindi posted on social media.
