Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi
By M. Riyaz Hashmi
The Opposition does not want the political fallout of Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation to remain confined to the exit of a Union minister. The Congress, in particular, is attempting to turn the episode into a larger national debate on “India’s education system versus the future of its youth.” Recent political moves and statements by senior Congress leaders indicate that the battle ahead will no longer be restricted to paper leaks or examination irregularities. Instead, the party is trying to build a broader political campaign around expensive education, unemployment, privatisation and the growing burden of education loans.
At the centre of this strategy is India’s ₹1.37 lakh crore education loan portfolio. According to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the Non-Performing Asset (NPA) ratio in education loans of public sector banks declined to around 2 per cent in 2024-25. On the other hand, figures placed before Parliament show that corporate loans worth nearly ₹9.87 lakh crore were written off between 2014 and 30 September 2025. The Opposition has consistently described these as “corporate loan waivers”, while the government maintains that a write-off is not the same as a loan waiver.
However, the Congress is looking beyond the numbers themselves. Its strategy is centred on the political message that emerges from comparing the two figures. The paper leak issue primarily affected competitive examination aspirants, whereas education loans directly concern lakhs of students pursuing medical, engineering, management and other professional courses, as well as their families. In other words, the Congress appears to be expanding the social and political reach of its youth campaign.
Using these figures, the party is seeking to raise a larger political question: if the banking system can absorb large-scale corporate loan write-offs, why should there not be a national debate on providing relief to students burdened with higher education loans? Factually, however, a loan write-off and a loan waiver are two different processes. A write-off does not extinguish the borrower’s liability; it merely removes the loan from the bank’s balance sheet while recovery proceedings continue. Even so, politically, this comparison could become one of the Opposition’s most potent arguments.
Rahul Gandhi set the tone
The Congress’ focus on education and youth issues did not emerge overnight. Last month, Rahul Gandhi launched the “Students’ Voice” campaign, beginning in Kota, Rajasthan, and later interacting with students and competitive examination aspirants in Dehradun, Uttarakhand. The stated objective of the campaign was to build a national conversation around paper leaks, examination irregularities, rising educational costs, expensive higher education and employment.
Ahead of the Dehradun programme, Rahul Gandhi wrote on social media:
“India’s education system has become a dishonest extraction mechanism… the time has come for a revolution in education.”
Viewed politically, the Kota and Dehradun events were far more than student interactions. They reflected the Congress’ first organised attempt to place education at the centre of the electoral discourse. First paper leaks, then the rising cost of education, and now education loans—these are not isolated issues but part of a single political narrative. This also explains why, following Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation, the party is trying to broaden the debate even further.
Imran Masood turns it into a new political weapon
Congress MP Imran Masood has now added a new dimension to the campaign. According to him, education is no longer merely a social right but an increasing economic burden.
“A poor labourer somehow educates his child and helps them reach higher education. But the fees charged by educational institutions have become so high that they are beyond the reach of ordinary families. They are forced to take education loans. After completing their studies, many fail to find jobs. EMIs begin immediately, pushing entire families into financial distress.”
Masood further said: “I have asked the government how many students took education loans over the last ten years, how many failed to repay them, and how many accounts became NPAs. If the government genuinely wants to provide relief to young people, its first decision should be to waive education loans. If you can waive ₹16 lakh crore for industrialists, why can’t you waive education loans for students? Don’t the country’s resources belong to its youth?”
He added: “The Congress and the BJP fundamentally differ in their thinking. The Congress built educational institutions so that even the children of poor families could receive affordable education. We did not commercialise education. The public sector enterprises established by Jawaharlal Nehru were meant to generate employment, not maximise profits. That was the blueprint on which modern India was built. Today, profitable public sector enterprises have been sold off. When everything moves into private hands, profit—not employment—becomes the priority. Naturally, the youth are the worst affected.”
Masood’s intervention goes beyond a simple demand for an education loan waiver. For the first time, the Congress appears to be placing education loans within the same political framework that has traditionally been used for debates over farm loan waivers and corporate loan write-offs. If the party succeeds in making this a national issue, it could significantly expand its appeal among the urban middle class, competitive examination aspirants, students of private universities and millions pursuing higher education.
Congress strategy: From paper leaks to the ‘Youth Economy’
Political observers believe the Congress no longer intends to treat paper leaks as a standalone issue. Over the past two years, the party has built its youth politics in phases—first Agniveer, then paper leaks, followed by unemployment, and now education loans. The common thread is that all these issues directly affect India’s largest voting bloc: citizens between the ages of 18 and 35.
That is why Rahul Gandhi first initiated direct engagement with students, and leaders like Imran Masood are now attempting to make education loans part of the national political discourse. This appears less like a coincidence and more like a long-term political strategy.
If, in the coming months, the Congress succeeds in bringing education loans, rising fees, privatisation, government recruitment and paper leaks under a single campaign, the “Youth Economy” could emerge as an independent electoral theme in the run-up to the 2029 general election. The debate would then move beyond the number of paper leaks to a more fundamental question: Is access to higher education in India gradually becoming a privilege reserved only for those who can afford it? That is the political question around which the Congress now appears to be shaping its new narrative.
