Chandigarh-Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira (Bholath) has called Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation a “people’s victory” and demanded that Punjab Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains also resign over multiple paper-leak controversies in the state. On July 25, 2026, shortly after news of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation broke, Khaira posted on X (quoting an ANI report): “We @INCIndia term the resignation of @BJP4India EM Dharminder Pradhan as people’s victory and in the same vein demand the resignation of @AamAadmiParty
Punjab EM @harjotbains under whom at least 6 #PaperLeaks have occurred! If @ArvindKejriwal & @BhagwantMann don’t sack him, it’ll be presumed they’re double-faced cowards – Khaira.
”This matches the Punjabi phrasing circulating in news and social media summaries: “ਸਿੱਖਿਆ ਮੰਤਰੀ ਧਰਮੇਂਦਰ ਪ੍ਰਧਾਨ ਦਾ ਅਸਤੀਫ਼ਾ ਲੋਕਾਂ ਦੀ ਜਿੱਤ ਹੈ, ਹੁਣ ਪੰਜਾਬ ਵਿੱਚ ਹੋਏ ਲਗਭਗ 6 ਪੇਪਰ ਲੀਕ ਕਾਰਨ ਹਰਜੋਤ ਬੈਂਸ ਵੀ ਦੇਵੇ ਅਸਤੀਫ਼ਾ – ਖਹਿਰਾ.”The Union Education Minister stepped down on July 25, 2026, amid sustained student protests over national exam irregularities, particularly linked to NEET and other paper-leak issues. Opposition leaders, including Congress figures, have repeatedly cited several controversies under the AAP government in Punjab. These include the recent Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS) Pharmacy Officer recruitment exam on July 19, 2026, where a high-tech cheating racket involving Bluetooth devices, pen cameras, and real-time answer dictation led to around 28–35 arrests.
Other cited cases involve Class 12 English, PSTET, Group-B papers, and earlier recruitment exams. The state government has generally described the latest incident as organised cheating during the exam rather than a full pre-exam paper leak. Khaira and other Congress leaders, such as PPCC chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, have used Pradhan’s exit to highlight what they call double standards by AAP leaders, who had strongly criticised the Centre over national exam leaks and previously suggested accountability, including resignations, for similar failures in Punjab. They are pressing for Bains’ resignation and action by CM Bhagwant Mann and Arvind Kejriwal. Khaira had made similar demands in earlier posts in the days leading up to Pradhan’s resignation, linking AAP’s national stance on exam integrity to the situation in Punjab. The issue remains politically charged, with opposition parties intensifying pressure on the Mann government over recruitment and school exam integrity affecting unemployed youth.