Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday (July 28, 2026) said it was "shameful" that BJP MPs welcomed Dharmendra Pradhan, who recently resigned as the Education Minister, at the Parliament premises "as if he were a superstar".

Two days after his resignation following large-scale student protests, Mr. Pradhan was welcomed by some party colleagues in the Parliament complex with a traditional cap and stole, and shouting "Pradhan Zindabad".

Opposition MPs also raised slogans such as "Chor, chor, paper chor" and hit out against the ruling party for felicitating Mr. Pradhan.

Asked about it, Ms. Gandhi said, "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!"

"No one can trust the PM Modi government, because even today, students are being harassed. I saw some Instagram handles with photographs of women alleging that they did such and such a thing. Do you want to engage in talks to resolve this matter or are you still after the students, wanting to suppress them? This is wrong," the Congress general secretary said.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had also slammed the reception Mr. Pradhan received at the Parliament.

In a post in Hindi on X on Monday (July 27), 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." Ms. Gandhi said Mr. Pradhan had to resign not out of moral conscience, but out of 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," Ms. Gandhi said.