Rahul Gandhi and some reports said Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan called the Cockroach Janta Party a "B team of terrorists". NDTV, which carried the interview, quotes him as saying "B Team of Disruptive Elements", so the exact wording remains disputed.
Claim: Dharmendra Pradhan called the CJP a "B team of terrorists".
Said by: Some news reports and social posts; repeated by Rahul Gandhi.
What the record shows: NDTV's headline and report give his words as "B Team of Disruptive Elements". No full public transcript or unedited video settling the exact phrase has been found.
Where the claim came from
Pradhan, then Education Minister, was the main target of the CJP's exam protests over the cancelled NEET-UG paper. In June 2026 he gave an interview to NDTV in which he attacked the movement. NDTV's report is headlined "B Team of Disruptive Elements". NDTV
Other reports and many social media posts rendered the phrase as "B-team of terrorists", and that is the version Wikipedia's summary of the protests uses. Dipke replied: "Sir, we are not terrorists. We do not need a certificate of patriotism from people like you." Wikipedia The stronger wording was also taken up by opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, though this site could not trace his original remark. The stronger version fitted a wider pattern: Kiren Rijiju had referred to a "Pakistan & George Soros gang", and Dipke later said he and co-convenor Ashutosh Ranka had worked "in AAP, not in some terrorist organisation". Frontline The Wire
What the evidence shows
Documented NDTV, the outlet that interviewed him, puts "B Team of Disruptive Elements" in quotation marks in its headline. NDTV
Claim · reports, Rahul Gandhi The "terrorists" version circulates without a linked primary clip. This site has not found an unedited recording or transcript in which Pradhan uses the word "terrorists" about the CJP.
It is possible that the word was used in Hindi and translated differently, or that it was said in a part of the interview not quoted in NDTV's text. Because neither version can be fully checked against a complete recording, this page rates the claim as disputed rather than false.
No fact-checker has published a verdict on the phrase. Pradhan has not, in reports found, clarified which words he used.
Context
Pradhan resigned on 25 July 2026 after weeks of protests, saying he did not want students' futures to "get entangled in legal complexities". Khaleej Times/Reuters Earlier, in August 2025, he had dismissed Rahul Gandhi's "vote chori" claims by calling him "bayan bahadur", someone who makes tall claims. The Week/PTI
Even the milder phrase, "disruptive elements", is a political characterisation by a minister, not a finding by any court or agency. Petitions seeking central agency probes into the CJP were dismissed by the Supreme Court and the Allahabad High Court. Hindustan Times The wider story is on the Cockroach Janta Party protests page.
Questions people ask
What did Dharmendra Pradhan call the Cockroach Janta Party?
NDTV quotes him as calling it a "B Team of Disruptive Elements". Some reports and Rahul Gandhi said "B team of terrorists". The exact wording is disputed.
Is there video of Pradhan saying "terrorists"?
None has been found in a verifiable form. No fact-checker has ruled on the phrase.
Is Dharmendra Pradhan still Education Minister?
No. He resigned on 25 July 2026, and Pralhad Joshi took over the ministry the same day.
Sources
- NDTV: "B Team of Disruptive Elements": Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to NDTV on CJP, Jun 2026
- Wikipedia: 2026 Delhi Jantar Mantar protests, accessed 9 Oct 2026
- Frontline: CJP and Gen Z political mobilisation, 2026
- The Wire: Abhijeet Dipke reveals how the CJP was born, 25 Aug 2026
- Khaleej Times/Reuters: What led to Pradhan's downfall, 25 Jul 2026
- The Week/PTI: Rahul Gandhi alleges vote theft, BJP reacts, 7 Aug 2025
- Hindustan Times: Allahabad HC bins PIL against CJP, 2026
