Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has tendered his resignation, submitting it to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday, following a month-long agitation by students in Delhi demanding he step down over exam irregularities and the NEET paper leak controversy.
Pradhan revealed the development on X just hours ahead of a scheduled third round of negotiations between the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) and the central government. His exit had been the central and most contentious demand of protesters who had been camped at Jantar Mantar for weeks.
The government-CJP talks had hit a standstill specifically over calls for Pradhan’s removal. Earlier Saturday, the CJP had signaled it would not continue negotiations unless the government agreed to remove him from his post. With his resignation now submitted, all three of the protesters’ core demands have effectively been met.
The demands included:
- Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation
- Immunity from legal action for student protesters
- Compensation for families of students who died by suicide in connection with the NEET paper leak
The government had already agreed to the second and third demands during talks held on Friday, but had until Saturday stayed noncommittal on the question of Pradhan’s resignation.
In his resignation post on X, Pradhan wrote that he holds deep respect for the aspirations and legitimate expectations of India’s youth, and that fulfilling the dreams of the country’s younger generation has long been a guiding principle of his political and social commitment. He thanked the Prime Minister for the opportunity to serve the country under his leadership.
News of the resignation triggered celebrations at the Jantar Mantar protest site. The CJP reacted with a post declaring, “Long Live Student Power,” while party founder Abhijeet Dipke addressed the crowd from the stage, saying, “We have done it. They used to say that no one resigns in this government. But we have done it.”
The protests, which had since spread to numerous cities nationwide, had grown into a major political flashpoint, with opposition parties rallying behind the movement and using it to put pressure on the government.
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