Pradhan… the face of BJP, who turned the tables in the midst of a losing election.

From becoming a reliable election manager in challenging states for BJP and holding important ministries during the three terms of the Modi government to resigning from the post of Education Minister, Dharmendra Pradhan’s political career got a big blow after the protests that broke out across the country due to the NEET paper leak. The way he many times converted a difficult path into victory for BJP, he established himself as a major election strategist within the party.

Dharmendra Pradhan resigned from his post on Saturday (25 July 2026), 35 days after the protests started under the leadership of CJP demanding his resignation over alleged irregularities in the examination system and NEET paper leak. His resignation is considered a major change from the government’s initial neglectful attitude towards the movement.

Dharmendra Pradhan, who started politics as an ABVP worker in 1983, became Union Minister thrice after two decades. He performed many important responsibilities in his political career. In recent years, he has been BJP’s first choice for giving the responsibility of election in-charge in states like Bihar and Haryana. He was also given the responsibility of 2017 Uttarakhand Assembly elections and 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. Pradhan’s most ambitious target remains his home state Odisha, where the BJP will form the government on its own for the first time in 2024.

In the 2021 assembly elections in West Bengal, he was given only one responsibility, which was to take charge of the Nandigram seat. The then Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had contested the elections from this seat and despite her party’s massive victory in the state, she lost the seat. Dharmendra Pradhan started his electoral journey in the year 2000 by contesting from Pallahara seat of Odisha. He contested elections from Deogarh Lok Sabha seat in 2004. This seat was earlier occupied by his father and former Union Minister Devendra Pradhan.

After losing the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, Dharmendra Pradhan distanced himself from electoral politics. However, due to his organizational ability and working skills, he was made the General Secretary of BJP in 2010. After this, in 2012 he was elected to Rajya Sabha from Bihar. in 2014 Narendra Modi After coming to power, Dharmendra Pradhan was made the Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas with independent charge. Dharmendra Pradhan became popularly known as ‘Ujjwala Man’ due to the Ujjwala scheme which provides free LPG connections to poor families. He is also credited as the longest serving Union Minister in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.

In the year 2024, he retained the education ministry in the third term of the Modi government. However, his tenure got off to a rocky start amid the alleged question paper leak controversy. Dharmendra Pradhan, one of the prominent faces of BJP in Odisha, was also being considered in the race to become the first BJP Chief Minister of the state after defeating Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in the assembly elections and winning 78 seats.

Due to his excellent tuning with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, he provided great help to his party in the Bihar elections held last year. In Bihar politics, whenever Nitish Kumar left NDA or his return, BJP activated Dharmendra Pradhan. When in the year 2013 Nitish Kumar were separating from BJP then Dharmendra Pradhan had tried a lot to convince him. Similarly, in the year 2022 too, when such rumblings started in Nitish camp, the party sent Pradhan to talk.