Madhya Pradesh Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya has claimed that Dharmendra Pradhan offered to tender his resignation as Union Education Minister on very first day of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) agitation at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, but the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) top brass stopped him so that a collective decision could be taken.
Speaking to reporters in Indore on Saturday night, Vijayvargiya said Pradhan was asked by BJP national president Nitin Nabin not to submit his resignation and even not to discuss it with anyone until a collective decision is taken by the party.
"On the first day, as soon as the student agitation began, Pradhan had told the BJP president that if he felt it was necessary, he was ready to resign as education minister," he said, while adding that Pradhan immediately stepped down from his position after the circumstances changed and a decision was taken by the party.
Pradhan resigned from his position on Saturday following days of protests, led by the CJP, over irregularities over NEET (UG) examination. He resignation paved the way for the CJP to call off its agitation, which later said the government has accepted all of its demands, including withdrawing FIRs against protesters in Delhi and BJP-ruled states.
The Madhya Pradesh minister, while lauding Pradhan, said his resignation foiled a bid by "foreign powers" to create an unrest in India similar to neighbouring Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
He also targeted the Congress and said the grand old party tried to take political advantage of the students' agitation. Vijayvargiya said the country is moving in the right direction, while crediting BJP's ideological mentor the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) for it.
"What role did the Congress play in the student agitation? The students launched the agitation and the Congress merely stood behind them. After the West Bengal assembly election, the Opposition became completely demoralised and, in that state of despair, found a ray of hope in the Cockroach Janata Party," BJP's former general secretary said.
"I feel very sorry for Rahul Gandhi's political ideology and his intellect. I think he still needs to understand what the RSS is," he added.
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