New role model of sacrifice ? -- What is happening with Dharmendra Pradhan today has happened with others in the past ... including a non-BJP leader ... - George Fernandes !!
Has Dharmendra Pradhan joined the club of George Fernandes and Kalyan Singh ?
The saffron party lawmakers, leaders and foot-soldiers how to handle these challenges and project a 'leader' of the moment. It helps ... and at times it does not!!
There were scenes of jubilation as MPs closed in around him, with one MP even putting a traditional cap on the ex-Minister's head and a shawl across his shoulders, throwing their weight behind the leader from Odisha.
When Dharmendra Pradhan arrived at the Parliament House on Monday after resigning as Education Minister over the weekend, a large crowd of BJP and NDA MPs turned out to welcome him.
The MP from Odisha got off the car, smiled, folded his hands in namaste and began making his way amid cheers and "Dharmendra Pradhan zindabad" slogans by the ruling MPs. One MP remarked that this was the first time a Minister had resigned without facing any allegations.
The Cockroach Janta Party had demanded Pradhan's resignation over the NEET paper leak.
"It happens," Congress MP Jairam Ramesh told Pradhan, who resigned on Saturday as Education Minister.
"Nothing happened," the MP shot back, adding, "I am a street fighter, not an AC-room activist."
Speculation suggests that the BJP MP might be assigned a role within the party organisation or tasked with leading the BJP's campaign for the upcoming assembly elections in five states.
"I am pained to see the events of the past 10 days. This is not a matter of personal prestige for me," Pradhan said in a statement posted on X on Saturday.
"India's youth power is the real strength of this nation. My resolve is that we will not let the country's youth get trapped in a vicious cycle of confusion," he added.
His supporters believe he has "sacrificed" his post in the national interest, a move expected to further strengthen his image among the public and in his parliamentary constituency, Sambalpur.
After the BJP suffered a setback in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, where the party failed to secure a majority on its own, Pradhan contributed significantly to the party's win in Haryana.
Prior to this, he had played a key role in the party's success as an in-charge in several states, including Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Karnataka.
Soon after he resigned as Minister, Home Minister Amit Shah visited his residence, and top BJP leaders, including party chief Nitin Nabin and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, have endorsed the reforms Dharmendra Pradhan implemented in the education sector.
BJP President Nitin Nabin commended Dharmendra Pradhan's decision to resign as Education Minister, calling it a display of high integrity.
A hardcore anti-Congress leader, George Fernandes (of JD-U) had resigned as Defence Minister in March 2001 following the Tehelka sting operation ("Operation West End").
George stated he stepped down to protect the morale of the armed forces and PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee re-inducted him into the cabinet after 9/11 rocked the US and the rest of the world in Sept 2021.
In fact, in March 2021, after George resigned; he was even given an opportunity to make a video-telecast message over Doordarshan. The Congress took exception to it and Pranab Mukherjee had even demanded that Congress president Sonia Gandhi should also be given time on DD because George spoke as a former Minister.
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| 4 Legends ::::: George, R K Hegde, Advani and Vajpayee |
In later years, the United Progressive Alliance government under Manmohan Singh rejected the report of the Phukan Commission, which probed the Tehelka expose into fictitious defence deals.
The commission had given a clean chit to the then defence minister George Fernandes although it has found lapses in all but two of the 15 defence deals it probed in the wake of an expose by Tehelka web portal four years ago.
The 47-page report, tabled in both the Houses of Parliament by Congress-led UPA government had cleared Fernandes by stating that he had either no role to play or that he had committed no illegality or irregularity in 12 of the deals.
The Tehelka expose had broke out on March 13-14, 2001 and the then government had appointed Venkataswami Commission on March 24 to probe it and to present its findings within four months.
The Commission was given an extension up to October 3, 2004. However, Justice Venkataswami resigned on November 25, 2002. Following which Justice Phukan was appointed Chairman of the Commission on January 2, 2003.
In fact, after George's resignation; NDA organised rallies in various parts of India and those used to be addressed among others by PM Vajpayee and George himself.
George Fernandes later befriended Narendra Modi, then then Gujarat chief minister in 2002, and during post-Godhra mayhem used to frequently visit the state and also participated in the first 'peace march' participated by Modi in between the riots.
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| Kalyan Singh |
Kalyan Singh was another prominent BJP leader who resigned on Dec 6, 1992 hours after Babri masjid demolition.
Kalyan Singh started calling him Ram Bhakt and used to appear before Supreme Court and Liberhan Commission with huge crowd of supporters behind him. The commission had concluded that the Babri structure destruction was a planned event facilitated by him and his administration.
“Prior to the 6th of December, the CM (Kalyan Singh) changed the local officers of the administration holding key posts, including the commissioner, IG, DGP, DM, SP, DIG, and others, by liberally exercising the power of transfers,” the Commission had said.
Kalyan Singh was later appointed Governor of Rajasthan by the Modi government.
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