Pralhad Joshi to helm education ministry after Dharmendra Pradhan's high-profile exit

Union Cabinet Minister Pralhad Joshi was appointed on Saturday as the country's new education minister, hours after Dharmendra Pradhan stepped down for moral reasons.

The Lok Sabha MP from Karnataka's Dharwad will now hold the education portfolio as an additional charge, alongside new and renewable energy, as well as consumer affairs, food, and public distribution.

The five-time MP has previously held the parliamentary affairs portfolio, in addition to coal and mines.

This also comes after President Droupadi Murmu accepted Pradhan's resignation on Saturday, in which the former education minister had denied a role in the NEET paper leak case, and had declared that he would resign on moral grounds.

"Considering the situation that has developed at Jantar Mantar and across the country—that anti-national forces should not take advantage of this situation, that the unity of the country should be preserved, that not even a single student's future should get entangled in legal complications, and that our children should devote their time to studies and focus on building their careers—I have sent my resignation to the Hon'ble Prime Minister," his letter read.

Saturday also saw the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) formally end its weeks-long protests after the Centre agreed to their demands.

All eyes are now on how the Centre will move forward with the education sector after the bad optics of the past few weeks ahead of upcoming elections in 2027.

In that regard, Joshi's name, which is already attached to the Centre's efforts to expand clean energy capacity, is expected to make major changes going forward.

Apart from the goal of 500 gigawatts (GW) of renewable and non-fossil-fuel energy capacity by 2030 and net-zero emissions by 2070, he has also spearheaded the National Green Hydrogen Mission, PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana, the PM-KUSUM scheme, and offshore wind energy projects.

Praalhad Joshi will now be expected to implement not just the reforms in education laws—especially for paper leaks—that will be discussed in upcoming days of the Parliament's monsoon session, but also frameworks for the smooth conduct of examinations, going forward.