Pralhad Joshi was in Dharwad, Karnataka, more than a thousand kilometres from Jantar Mantar, when news of the protest in the capital reached him. Government leaders informed him that he had been given additional responsibility for the Education Ministry after Dharmendra Pradhan resigned. Joshi returned to Delhi on a 7:30 pm flight from Hubballi and assumed charge on Sunday.
He posted on X that he had taken over as Union Minister for Education and thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the trust placed in him.
Although the arrangement may be temporary, it highlights the confidence the party and government place in Joshi, who already handles Consumer Affairs and Food and Public Distribution. After assuming the new role, he met officials from the National Testing Agency at his residence that evening.
The 63-year-old Joshi is a long-serving Karnataka BJP figure who started with the RSS in his youth. He gained prominence during the 1994 Idgah Maidan agitation in Hubballi. He later served as district president and general secretary for the BJP in Dharwad before winning successive parliamentary elections from the area.
Close to former minister Ananth Kumar, Joshi led the state BJP unit from 2013 to 2016 during a period of internal challenges. After Kumar’s death in 2018, he became the party’s key link in Delhi. In 2019 he was appointed Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Minister of Coal and Mines.
In the current term, Joshi oversees Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, and New and Renewable Energy. He manages the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana and the PM Surya Ghar Yojana, and takes part in an inter-ministerial group monitoring essential commodity prices.
Before the latest assignment, there was talk he might return to Karnataka to stabilise the state unit amid factional disputes and recent cross-voting incidents. His skills in conflict resolution were noted during farmer protests at the Shambhu border in 2024.
