CJP turned down Centre's offer to shift Dharmendra Pradhan's portfolio

When the Centre offered to shift Dharmendra Pradhan's portfolio instead of removing him from Cabinet, the Cockroach Janata Party's response was unambiguous: no.

Sources told India Today that the CJP delegation, which met Union Ministers JP Nadda and Jitendra Singh on Saturday, rejected the proposal outright. The government's negotiators had argued that reshuffling or removing a minister was the Prime Minister's prerogative alone. The CJP countered that it would accept nothing short of Pradhan's resignation, and that is what eventually came.

Parliament: Two very different receptions

On Monday, Pradhan walked into Parliament to a show of solidarity that few outgoing ministers receive. BJP MPs gathered at the Makar Dwar entrance to wait for him. When he arrived, party colleagues escorted him in, greeted him and presented him with a ceremonial cap.

On the same day, in the same complex, Opposition leaders led by Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra staged a protest over what they described as excessive force used against students during the nationwide demonstrations. Raising the slogan "Shiksha Chori," theft of education, they demanded that Union Home Minister Amit Shah apologise for alleged police brutality against peaceful protesters.

'I am a street fighter, not an AC-room activist'

The political theatre produced at least one memorable exchange. Congress MP Jairam Ramesh, who had been among the loudest voices demanding Pradhan's resignation, approached the former minister and offered words of sympathy after he stepped down. "It happens," Ramesh told him. "Nothing happened," Pradhan replied, before adding, "I am a street fighter, not an AC-room activist."

The bill that followed

The confrontation played out as Parliament took up the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026, tabled amid significant Opposition uproar. The proposed law directly responds to the NEET controversy that triggered weeks of nationwide protests and ultimately led to Pradhan's exit.

The bill proposes sharply tougher penalties for examination fraud. The maximum jail term would rise from five years to ten years, and offenders could face fines of up to Rs 50 lakh. After six days of washout during the Monsoon Session, the amendment bill's introduction marked Parliament's first substantive engagement with the crisis that had consumed the streets outside.