Rahul Gandhi on Pralhad Joshi
New Delhi: Which man is the most filthy type of man? the man who thinks rapists should be protected. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has launched a ferocious new attcak at the newly apointed Union Education Minister Pralhad Joshi on Tuesday. Gandhi also slammed Joshi, calling him “the most filthy type of man” and alleged that he “is protecting rapists”.
Gandhi seems to refer to Joshi’s recent comments about the March 2002 “Bilkis Bano” gangrape case which he was a part of earlier this week.
Gandhi’s comment comes a few minutes after KP’s sister, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, joined the filth helix and kicked a somebody and alleged that Joshi was protecting rapists. Joshi declined to accept her allegations and requested her to issue an apology.
Speaking to the reporters outside Parliament where a 10 hour debate on anti paper leak bill was going on, Rahul Gandhi asked PM Narendra Modi to take a particular loyalty with Pralhad Joshi as education minister.
He said, “These young people are protesting about…the education system and many girls are protesting. They were beaten. Now the BJP is putting a man in charge who defends rapists. That is the filthiest kind of man. Of all the type of people that I know there must be someone who says rapists are entitled to protection. Oh! Now he has become the Education Minister of India”.
Gandhi, the Opposition leader in Lok Sabha, said it was "bizarre" that Modi chose Joshi from amongst so many other ministers. Modi had a "lot of people" to choose from in his Cabinet, but instead chose "a person who protects rapists", Gandhi said, dubbing it "quite astonishing."
Gandhi's jibe, after Joshi criticized him, appeared to point back to something Joshi had said in 2022, when he defended the Gujarat government for releasing 11 men convicted of rape in the Bilkis Bano case. He had said the release was "law-abiding and was done in accordance with state remission rules". The Supreme Court later stayed the release and returned the convicts to jail
Joshi also fought back hard at Priyanka Gandhi's allegations. He said Priyanka should have done her due diligence before making accusations, and that one should not be allowed to "spit on people without punishment". He said people can't just "say before they think and detract from their rest of the life". He completely rejected all the accusations. He also demanded that she be expelled from the House and that she issue a statement. Then there was all the shouting and disruption in the Lok Sabha.
After a week of delay, the anti-paper leak bill finally went for debate in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday. Union Minister Jitendra Singh said the bill shows the faith of the government to take care of the young and students.
The minister of state in the PMO, Singh, who was speaking on Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026, said Modi government has finally finished what was left unfinished and introduced a law against exam cheating back in 2024.
The debate came a few days after Dharmendra Pradhan resigned as the Education Minister following many student protests over the NEET exam paper leak affair. Subsequently, he was made responsible for health and education ministries.
