BJP Leader Vikram Singh's Daughter Calls Pralhad Joshi's Appontment As Education Minister "Bleak Joke"

Yashaswinee Raje Singh, daughter of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Vikram Singh, has criticised the appointment of Union Minister Pralhad Joshi as the new education minister following Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation, describing the move as a “bleak joke”.

Speaking in an interview with Al Jazeera, Yashaswinee said, “The person who's been appointed as education minister now... honestly, it feels like a very, very bleak joke.”

Joshi took charge of the education ministry after Pradhan stepped down on July 25 amid widespread student protests over alleged irregularities and paper leaks in the NEET examination.

Backs Student-Led Protests

During the interview, Yashaswinee also explained her support for the student-led agitation and praised the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) for mobilising young people who would otherwise stay away from political issues.

“CJP did a very, very great job of galvanising this sort of largely apolitical audience that usually steers clear of such conversations through their innovative messaging, through memes, and their focus was Instagram, which was great because that's where we saw so much of the ordinary people's coverage of the protests,” she said.

The protests, which gained momentum at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar, later spread to other parts of the country as students demanded accountability over the examination controversy.

Criticises Pradhan’s Resignation Letter

Yashaswinee also questioned the manner in which Pradhan framed his resignation, arguing that his exit should not be treated as a decisive turning point in the agitation.

“It's really, really shortsighted to be viewing the resignation as sort of this watershed moment,” she said.

Referring specifically to the language used by Pradhan, she added, “The language of the resignation letter itself is more of a martyr's than of someone who's remorseful, apologetic and holding themselves to account.”

Pradhan, while announcing his resignation on July 25, had said, “Considering the situation that has arisen at Jantar Mantar and across the country, so that anti-national forces do not take advantage of this situation ... I have sent my resignation letter to the Prime Minister.”

His resignation came after sustained demonstrations over the NEET paper leak controversy and following negotiations between representatives of the protesting group and the Centre.

‘I Avoid Political Discussions With Father’

Yashaswinee also spoke about her relationship with her father, Vikram Singh, who represented Fatehpur Sadar in Uttar Pradesh as a BJP MLA for two terms before losing the constituency to Samajwadi Party candidate Chandra Prakash in 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly Elections.

She said she consciously keeps a distance from her father’s political environment and avoids discussing politics with him.

“I don't even live at home. I've been in India for the last three and a half years, and I live by myself,” she said.

“I choose not to participate in that sort of environment at all. I have not visited there (Fatehpur Sadar) for many years. So I maintain a very, very large sort of chasm between all of that and myself. And that is how I am able to say the things I do without feeling like a hypocrite,” she added.

Climate activist Sonam Wangchuk had earlier undertaken a 26-day hunger strike in support of the agitation. He ended the fast after receiving a written assurance from the government on three of the four major demands raised by the protesters.

The demands included Pradhan’s resignation, protection of student protesters from FIRs or legal action, compensation for families of students who died in connection with the examination controversy, and a parliamentary discussion on the paper leak issue.

The government had initially stopped short of giving an assurance regarding Pradhan’s resignation. However, after subsequent talks between CJP representatives and Union ministers JP Nadda and Jitendra Singh, Pradhan submitted his resignation on July 25.