Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi sharply criticized the decision to assign Prahlad Joshi additional charge of the education ministry. Speaking to reporters outside Parliament on July 28, Gandhi alleged that the BJP had given the education portfolio to a person who had previously supported rapists. He said the appointment came while many young people and students were protesting over the education system.

Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also raised the issue in the Lok Sabha. She said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had made education minister a person who supported the decision to release convicts in the rape of a pregnant woman. According to Priyanka Gandhi, the appointment sends a clear message to millions of women in the country.

Joshi supported in 2018 the premature release of 11 people serving life sentences in the gang rape of Bilkis Bano and the killing of her family members during the 2002 Gujarat riots. He said they had spent a long time in prison and were eligible for release under the law, citing good conduct. India’s Supreme Court cancelled the remission order in 2024, saying the authority lacked legal jurisdiction.