Protector of Rapists is Education Minister: Priyanka, Rahul about Pralhad Joshi
Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi and Congress MP from Wayanad Priyanka Gandhi Tuesday July 28, 2026 questioned the additional charge of the Education Ministry given to Pralhad Joshi, who they said, is a ‘protector of rapists’
New Delhi: Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi and Congress MP from Wayanad Priyanka Gandhi Tuesday July 28, 2026 questioned the additional charge of the Education Ministry given to Pralhad Joshi, who they said, is a ‘protector of rapists’.
Pralhad Joshi, a long term RSS loyalist, held a number of portfolios - including Parliamentary Affairs, Coal and Mines, when he was given the additional charge of the Education Ministry after the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan following the nationwide students’ protest.
Ruckus in Lok Sabha
The allocation of the Education Ministry portfolio to Pralhad Joshi, however, Tuesday stormed the Lok Sabha – the lower house of the Indian Parliament, after Priyanka Gandhi Vadra recalled how the former had defended the rapists of Bilkis Bano.
Bilkis Bano was pregnant when she was raped during the 2002 Gujarat riots. Her rapists were convicted and sent to jail for life term. However, a court in Gujarat ordered their release, a decision that was annulled by the Supreme Court of India after nationwide outrage.
During the peak of the outrage in 2018, Pralhad Joshi as the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, had defended them and justified their release.
“How can the country believe you… PM Modi has appointed a person as Education Minister who justified the release of the rapists of a pregnant woman. What type of message the prime minister is trying to convey to hundreds of thousands of girls in the country?” she asked while speaking in the Lok Sabha during the ongoing Monsoon Session Tuesday.
The ruling MPs created a ruckus in the Lok Sabha following Priyanka Gandhi’s statement, and demanded apology from her. “This is character assassination”, Minister of Minority Affairs, Kiren Rijiju, stood up and said.
Priyanka Gandhi, however, refused to take back or retract her statement.
“An Insult to Our Education System”
Soon later, Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi doubled down the party’s criticism of PM Modi’s decision to appoint Pralhad Joshi as the new Education Minister.
"After such a strong protest by students, who included a large number of girls, BJP appoints as Education Minuster a man who is a defender of rapists", Rahul Gandhi told the media outside the Parliament.
"There can be no filthier type of man than one who defends rapists... Says rapists need protection. Strange...", he said.
"Pralhad Joshi is an insult to our education system and an insult to every student in it. Crores of young women study in the institutions he now oversees. India’s women will never accept PM Modi’s new Education Minister", Rahul Gandhi said.
“There are so many people in his (PM Modi's) Cabinet… He could have chosen anyone of them… But he chose a person who protects the rapists… Quite amazing”, Rahul Gandhi said.
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