India’s Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan Resigns Amid Sustained Protests

New Delhi: India's Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has announced his resignation following weeks of sustained protests and mounting political pressure led by the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP).

Pradhan made the announcement through a resignation letter written in Hindi and posted on his official X (formerly Twitter) account. According to Indian media reports, he has also submitted his resignation letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The resignation comes just hours before the scheduled third round of talks between representatives of the CJP and the central government on Saturday afternoon.

For more than a month, protesters had been staging a sit-in at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, with the resignation of the Education Minister remaining their primary demand.

The demonstrators also demanded that no legal action be taken against protesters and called for compensation of ₹10 million (1 crore rupees) for the families of students who died by suicide following the alleged NEET examination paper leak.

Previous rounds of negotiations between the government and the CJP failed to produce a breakthrough, largely because of the opposition group's insistence on Pradhan's resignation. Earlier on Saturday, CJP leaders reiterated that no meaningful dialogue would be possible unless the minister was removed from office.

Following the announcement, CJP leaders described the resignation as a significant victory for their movement.