Vijayapura, July 26 -- Karnataka Minister MB Patil on Sunday criticised the Union government following Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation, asserting that the Centre finally acted after "playing with the future of students for 47 days.

Speaking to reporters after Pradhan's resignation amid nationwide protests over the NEET paper leak issue, Patil said, "Finally, Dharmendra Pradhan has been made to resign. For 47 days, they played with the future of children. More than 1.5 lakh students could not appear for the exam."

Taking a sharp dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Patil said, "The Prime Minister has finally woken up from his Kumbhakarna sleep and accepted the resignation. This happened due to the protests by the 'IND...