New Delhi, July 25, 2026 (Diurna) — Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned on Saturday, the most significant concession the Narendra Modi government has made to a student agitation in its third term. The resignation comes amid the ongoing protest at the Jantar Mantar helmed by the newly formed Cockroach Janta Party (CJP). Following the resignation and acceptance of its pending demands by the central government, the CJP formally called off the protest.
Pradhan announced the decision in a letter posted on X on Saturday afternoon, addressed to his “young friends”. By evening, CJP spokespersons had appeared alongside Union Minister J.P. Nadda and Minister of State (PMO) Jitendra Singh at a joint press conference in the capital to announce that the agitation was being withdrawn, that FIRs registered against protesters across the country would be dropped, and that the government had agreed to compensate the families of students who died during the months of turmoil over the examination.
The Prime Minister had made no public comment on the resignation at the time of writing.
The letter
Pradhan framed his exit as an act of protecting students rather than a concession to pressure. “Considering the situation that has developed at Jantar Mantar and across the country — that anti-national forces should not take advantage of this situation, that the unity of the country should be preserved, that not even a single student’s future should get entangled in legal complications, and that our children should devote their time to studies and focus on building their careers — I have sent my resignation to the Hon’ble Prime Minister,” he wrote in the letter, which was published in full by NDTV and the Times of India.
He also recorded the sequence of events his ministry had overseen since the paper leak surfaced. “However, irregularities came to light in the NEET-UG examination held on 3 May 2026. The Government of India took immediate cognizance of this, handed over the investigation to the CBI, cancelled the examination, and announced a new date for the re-examination. Alongside this, it was decided that from next year the examination would be conducted in CBT (Computer-Based Test) mode,” the letter said.
The re-examination was held on June 21 and results were declared on July 16. Pradhan said the outcome had been satisfactory, with candidates from poor backgrounds among the successful ones, and that his priority through the crisis had been the smooth conduct of the test for more than 20 lakh candidates.
The letter also carried an accusation. “However, during this time too, certain individuals occupying positions of responsibility tried to mislead students and create obstruction, which caused me deep anguish,” Pradhan wrote, without naming anyone. He said the events of the previous 10 days had saddened him and that the matter was not one of personal reputation, adding that India’s youth power was the real strength of the country.
Pradhan, an Odisha MP who has held the education portfolio since July 2021 and the petroleum portfolio before that, closed the letter by thanking the Prime Minister for his trust and saying he would continue to work for the aspirations of Odisha and the country’s youth.
Celebration At Jantar Mantar
News of the resignation reached the protest site within minutes. Loud cheers went up at Jantar Mantar when CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke announced it from the dais, waving the tricolour and leading the crowd in A.R. Rahman’s rendition of Vande Mataram.
Addressing the gathering, Dipke framed the moment as vindication for a movement that had been dismissed at its outset. “Dharmendra Pradhan has resigned, and this is the proof that if you don’t get scared, you can win,” he said, according to The Hindu. “You should not be scared to speak in a democracy. Only if you raise your voice, they will stay in line because they are sitting in power because of us,” he added.
Dipke described the resignation as the movement’s “first victory” but was careful, in his remarks from the dais, to say the agitation had not achieved everything it set out to. Compensation for bereaved families and action against those responsible for the alleged leak, he said, remained unresolved at that point in the afternoon.
The CJP also posted on X invoking the framers of the Constitution. “Today’s victory is a powerful testament to the extraordinary foresight of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar and the framers of our Constitution. Decades ago, Babasaheb envisioned a nation where power flowed directly from the people, and he engineered the framework to make that possible. Jai Samvidhan! Jai Bhim!” the party said in the post.
Celebrations were not confined to Delhi. At Freedom Park in Bengaluru, protesters gathered to chant slogans marking the resignation.
The afternoon was not uniformly peaceful. Stone-pelting broke out at Jantar Mantar shortly before the announcement, PTI reported, with security personnel using tear gas and a mild lathicharge to disperse a section of the crowd. Two police personnel sustained head injuries and were taken to a nearby hospital. Sources cited by the agency said the situation was brought under control and that adequate force remained deployed.
Demands Accepted, CJP Withdraws Protest With ‘Immediate Effect’
The formal end to the month-long protest came at a joint press conference, following the resignation, in which CJP spokespersons Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka appeared with Nadda and Jitendra Singh — an unusual tableau, given that the two sides had been negotiating at arm’s length only a day earlier, when CJP representatives met the ministers and were told the government would take a day to decide on Pradhan.
Das announced the withdrawal of FIRs, which had been one of the movement’s central grievances after Delhi Police registered 13 cases against protesters. “All FIRs filed against protesters all over the country will be withdrawn; the government has assured us,” he said. He added that the CJP had asked for a forward-looking guarantee as well: “CJP has sought assurance from the govt that no case will be registered against protesters or organisers in future as well. The govt said it will get back on this on Tuesday in writing,” Das said.
Ranka confirmed movement on the compensation demand, saying the government had agreed to an honorary payment to the kin of students who ended their lives during the examination crisis. The CJP’s stated demand had been ₹1 crore per family; the quantum agreed to was not specified at the press conference.
Nadda, for his part, described the engagement as structured rather than concessionary. “They had a five-point charter. We discussed this in detail,” he said, adding that a fourth round of talks on education and examination reforms would be held in four weeks.
Das closed the press conference with the sentence the protest site had been waiting for. “The CJP declares that we withdraw the strike,” he said.
The party had called for a nationwide candle march on July 26 in solidarity with those it says were victims of police excesses during the agitation, and is yet to make a decision over the same.
Wangchuk and the Political Reaction
Activist Sonam Wangchuk, who had joined the agitation and whose participation gave it reach beyond student unions, called the resignation a vindication of street mobilisation. In a post on X, he described it as “a victory of democracy, direct democracy… straight from the streets” and as “a victory of peace, patience and perseverance”, congratulating the CJP and Gen Z. “Congratulations CJP, Gen Z of the nation, and thank you all citizens for shedding fear and the fear of fear and rising from every corner of the nation,” he said.
Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, said, “Pradhan‘s resignation is a huge step towards rebuilding our education system.”
The cost, and what is left
The agitation extracted a price from central Delhi that had little to do with politics. Traders around Jantar Mantar and in Connaught Place told PTI they had seen one of their weakest business weeks in months, with metro station closures and traffic diversions compounding the effect of the sit-in. Many kept shutters down through the week; on Saturday afternoon, when the Jantar Mantar flea market would ordinarily be crowded, only a handful of stalls were open.
What remains unresolved is substantial. The CBI investigation into the May 3 leak has produced no public finding on who organised it. The written assurance on future FIRs is due on Tuesday. The move to computer-based testing from next year, announced as a fix, has yet to be tested against an examination cycle. And the fourth round of talks Nadda promised is four weeks away.
For now, the CJP has what it did not have on Friday: a minister’s resignation, a negotiating table with two Union ministers on the other side of it, and the withdrawal of the cases that had hung over its volunteers. The rest of the charter is still outstanding.
