Dharmendra Pradhan: How ‘quiet’ BJP leader lost the plot with NEET backlash

New Delhi: From the high of Haryana and Bihar elections when he was credited with BJP’s spectacular victory to his unceremonious exit as India’s education minister after close to a month-long relentless Gen Z protests over NEET-UG exam lapses, it has been a rather unexpected turn of fate for Dharmendra Pradhan.

Until now, Pradhan was on a roll. The BJP leader from Talcher, Odisha had gone on to become BJP’s election strategist and a cabinet minister since the first term of the Narendra Modi government in 2014.

He could have well ended up becoming the chief minister of the first BJP government in Odisha when the party defeated the Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janata Dal (BJD) government in 2024 but for the BJP’s 240 tally in the Lok Sabha elections. BJP sources say that with the reduced numbers in his third term, the PM conveyed that he can’t take the risk of another by-election.

Described as a ‘quiet’ and ‘simple’ worker who is known to avoid the spotlight, Pradhan has faced many ups and downs in his career, whether it was in his capacity as the incharge of Karnataka in 2013, when the party lost the elections and he was blamed for it or the controversy surrounding NCERT (National Council of Educational Research and Training) textbooks or paper leaks in 2024 or the criticism over the revised University Grants Commission regulations in January this year.

From getting beaten up by students to losing first college election

Pradhan’s foray into politics started in the mid 80s, when as a student of Talcher college in Odisha’s Angul district, he joined the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). He was studying Anthropology in Talcher college.

People who knew him back then said Pradhan as student union president, indulged in “disruptive” student politics.

“Once there was this annual function in the college and Pradhan and some other ABVP members were opposing it for no reason. They got beaten up by the students for disrupting the function. The photographs that are circulating in social media these days showing Pradhan getting beaten up are from that function at Talcher college,” Arun Kumar Sahoo, BJD MLA and former education minister in the Naveen Patnaik Cabinet, told ThePrint.

Pradhan graduated from Talcher college and entered Utkal University in Bhubaneshwar to pursue his Masters in Anthropology in 1988. Sahoo and Pradhan were batchmates in university and lived in the same hostel.

Sahoo recalled how Pradhan lost the first election of his life when he contested for the post of student’s union president at Utkal University.

“Both of us were contesting for the student union president’s post. I was from SFI (Students’ Federation of India) and Pradhan from ABVP. His father, Dr Debendra Pradhan, was the BJP state president back then. BJP cadre had come to campaign for him but despite that he lost.”

“I guess, we were more popular among the students,” Sahoo added.

Pradhan, he recalled, was a good student. “Back then you would not get a chance to do post graduation from Utkal university if you were not a good student.”

Ironically, as students are protesting against paper leaks and demanding Pradhan’s resignation, Pradhan, as the ABVP state general secretary, spearheaded a protest against the then Congress government led by J.B. Patnaik over the Class 12 board exam paper leak conducted by the Odisha Council of Higher Secondary Education in 1996. Pradhan went on to become the ABVP national secretary in 1995.

RSS roots 

While many in the opposition have often called him a ‘dynast’ as his father Dr Debendra Pradhan was a senior BJP leader and had served as a minister of state in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee cabinet, it was in fact the junior Pradhan whose Sangh links played an instrumental role in his father joining the BJP.

“Many people think he is a dynast because his father was a politician, but very few know that it actually happened the other way around. He joined the RSS when he was in Class 5 or Class 6, and he used to regularly attend the local RSS shakha,” political analyst and author Ruben Banerjee told ThePrint.

Banerjee added that as the senior Sangh members got to know about the young boys attending the shakha, they began visiting their homes. It was during their visit to Pradhan’s house that they discovered that his father was a highly respected local general physician with a strong mass connection.

“Local doctors naturally know a large number of people, and people look up to them. This was at a time, when the BJP was barely present in Odisha. It was not even a ‘signboard party’ – it hardly had any organisational presence in the state. The party was looking for people with local influence,” Banerjee said.

“Through their visits, the RSS leaders persuaded Debendra Pradhan to join the BJP. In other words, Debendra Pradhan entered politics because of his son’s RSS association, not the other way around.”

State BJP leaders say that Pradhan was close to RSS from a young age and has always maintained his Sangh links. “It is known in BJP circles here that he is close to Bipin Prasad Nanda, RSS Odisha (Purv) Prant Pracharak. He is kind of Pradhan’s mentor,” said a senior state BJP leader, who did not want to be named.

But they admit that notwithstanding his RSS roots, over the last two decades and more specifically after he became the cabinet minister in 2014, Pradhan’s influence over Odisha has increased.

State leaders say that he has played a big role in expanding BJP’s footprint in Odisha.

“Since 2009, after the BJP-BJD alliance broke in the state, he has given leadership to Odisha BJP. He has travelled in the state extensively, holding meetings with the cadre. It is said that he is the only BJP leader who has his organization, his people in every district of the state,” a former BJP leader, who has been close to Pradhan, told ThePrint

The leader said that in the Mohan Majhi-led BJP government in the state, close to a dozen cabinet ministers are Pradhan’s men. “He takes care of his people. He got them tickets, campaigned for them despite contesting himself from Sambalpur Lok Sabha seat and ensured that his people are accommodated in the cabinet. In fact, Majhi’s name was proposed by Pradhan only,” the leader said.

“The CM’s chair might have eluded him but his clout is continuing.”

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Factionalism in Odisha

Several state BJP leaders, ThePrint spoke to said that despite a high political stature, Pradhan is not exactly a popular politician. His presence has increased factionalism in the state unit, according to them.

“He does not have the kind of charisma that former BJD CM Naveen Patnaik has. However, organisationally, within the Odisha BJP, he is unquestionably the tallest leader and possesses tremendous networking capability,” a third BJP leader said.

Another party leader said that as Pradhan’s father Debendra rose within the BJP and went on to become a minister in the Vajpayee government, “naturally, this also benefited Dharmendra, since his father had by then become a prominent BJP leader.”

A former BJP leader, who has known Pradhan closely, said that nobody can discount the fact that he has worked hard in Odisha and nurtured not just his constituency Sambalpur but the entire state.

“He had made up his mind well before 2024 to contest in the Lok Sabha election from Sambalpur. His team started preparation over a year in advance. They set up the party office and started mobilising the cadre and organizing meetings over a year before elections,” the leader said.

His family also chipped in. “When he could not come because of his ministerial engagements, his wife (Mridula Thakur Pradhan) used to come and meet women organisations and others.”

State leaders said though he did not show, it was a setback for him when he was overlooked and Majhi was made the CM after the BJP came to power in the state for the first time ever in 2024.

Even as the BJP’s victory in Odisha was attributed to multiple factors, including anti-incumbency against Naveen Patnaik’s government and “Pandian factor”, a senior party leader said much of the organisational groundwork had been laid by Pradhan from 2014 onwards and more specifically from 2022 onwards.

“Under his leadership, the BJP emerged as the second-largest party in the 2017 panchayat elections and retained that position in the 2019 assembly elections, displacing the Congress,” said another leader.

It was because of this organisational work, there was a widespread expectation within Odisha that Pradhan would become CM after BJP’s victory in 2024. “His failure to secure the position surprised many including him,” said another leader.

Shah’s trusted strategist

Considered ‘close’ to Amit Shah and often called ‘Modi’s most trusted lieutenant’, Pradhan is known to be a smart strategist, who has delivered in several elections for the BJP, even in states where the party was completely written-off.

As the election in charge, Pradhan has enjoyed success in Uttar Pradesh in 2022, Uttarakhand in 2017, Jharkhand in 2014, and West Bengal’s Nandigram assembly constituency in 2021. He also played a role in helping the party retain Chhattisgarh in 2008.

In 2022, Dharmendra Pradhan, as election in charge in Uttar Pradesh, helped the BJP win 255 of 403 seats. “He knows the nerves of the people when it comes to elections. In Uttar Pradesh, he managed to balance out the caste equations and kept the focus on winning seats. His emphasis on having regular meetings with party workers daily helped him deliver for the party,” said a senior BJP leader from UP.

However, Suvendu Adhikari’s win in Nandigram against the then West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee is often cited as a true test of his political abilities. Though the BJP was defeated by the Trinamool Congress in 2021, Pradhan’s organisational skills and persistence helped Suvendu defeat a sitting CM. Pradhan was the BJP’s election in-charge for the Nandigram constituency.

However, he could not deliver for the BJP in Madhya Pradesh in 2018, and Karnataka in 2023.

Pradhan also managed to deliver for the party in Haryana. He is described as someone who is a patient implementor and an able mediator. A party functionary recalled how ahead of the Bihar elections, whenever there used to be any disagreement or tension in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), the point person for the BJP used to be Pradhan.

Rise in the party, govt

An OBC face of the party, Pradhan was first appointed petroleum minister in Modi’s first cabinet in 2014. In 2017, he was also made in charge of skill development and entrepreneurship.

In his second term in the Modi cabinet, besides petroleum and skill development, he got the steel ministry portfolio in 2019. But in the 2021 reshuffle, he lost the petroleum ministry and was given the education ministry portfolio.

Often described as the “Ujjwala Man” for his significant role in implementing the Modi government’s flagship scheme to distribute free LPG cylinders to women, his strategic abilities and organisational skills have ensured his success as the election-in-charge in multiple states over the years.

A party functionary explained that Pradhan’s influence also grew because he served as petroleum minister for seven years, the longest-serving in that portfolio.

“That position gave him considerable administrative resources and political leverage. His strength was never mass charisma; rather, it was his ability to get work done. Many people approached him for favours, including recommendations for Padma awards. This reflected the kind of political clout he exercised,” added the functionary.

Sharing an anecdote, a BJP leader said that between 2014 and 2019, the Odisha BJP was often jokingly referred to as the “weekend party” by many.

“Every Friday night, Dharmendra Pradhan would fly from Delhi to Bhubaneswar. The weekends would be packed with rallies, protests, organisational meetings, and political activity. By Sunday night, he would fly back to Delhi. As a result, the party was visibly active on Saturdays and Sundays because he was present and had the resources to keep the organisation running,” the leader explained.

However, his strength as an election strategist behind BJP’s success in several states seems to have become his nemesis in competently running the education ministry.

His tenure has been marred by several controversies since he took over as education minister. But his closeness to Shah and Modi ensured that he could sail through unscathed. This time, the relentless protests by students, ended up becoming his nemesis.

(Edited by Tony Rai)

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