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Dharmendra Pradhan, who resigned over the weekend, was cheered and welcomed with "Dharmendra Pradhan zindabad" slogans as he arrived in Parliament on Monday.
Scenes of jubilation were witnessed as MPs gathered around him, with one MP placing a traditional cap on the former Education Minister's head and draping a shawl across his shoulders. The MPs expressed their support for the leader from Odisha.
"When he entered the Parliament premises after resigning, BJP MPs garlanded him, welcoming him as if he had returned from fighting a war with Pakistan," Gogoi said during the discussion on the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026.
Priyanka Gandhi also criticised the reception given to the BJP leader.
"Don't you think it is shameful? Everyone saw the circumstances under which Dharmendra Pradhan resigned, but yesterday in the Parliament premises, he was welcomed as if he were a superstar," Priyanka Gandhi said on Tuesday.
Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, had also criticised the welcome Pradhan received in the Parliament premises.
In a post in Hindi on X on Monday, he said, "Dharmendra Pradhan is -- and will always remain -- a symbol of corruption and India's ruined education system. That very system claimed the lives of 26 children and forced lakhs of youths to take to the streets."
Gandhi said Pradhan resigned not because of moral conscience, but due to fear of the youth's outrage.
"And today, the BJP is garlanding that very same person in Parliament. This is not an honour; it is a celebration of the ruined futures of lakhs of children. Every student in the country is watching this, and will remember every face involved," Gandhi had said.
The social media-driven Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) led student protests that began after exam paper leaks. Demonstrations that started at the Jantar Mantar protest site in the centre of New Delhi intensified and spread to other parts of the country. The protests were called off after Pradhan resigned.
After the NEET paper leak came to light in Mid-May, the government launched an investigation, cancelled the release of the results and ordered a retake in June, forcing candidates to return to intense test preparation.
The government has not commented on the deaths of the exam candidates. The CJP says 21 students died by suicide in cases it believes were linked to the exam fiasco.
The controversy over the NEET paper leak, the student protests and the political reactions surrounding Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation have continued to draw attention to concerns raised by candidates and student groups over the examination process.
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