Dharmendra Pradhan resignation follows India’s Cockroach protests
India’s education minister quit after youth protests over alleged exam paper leaks and a 26-day hunger strike demanding accountability.
By Sal Moretti · Money Reporter
3 min read
India’s Dharmendra Pradhan resignation came Saturday after weeks of youth-led protests over alleged exam paper leaks and hours before fresh talks were due between the government and the Cockroach Janta Party activist movement, NBC News reported.
Pradhan announced the decision on X, saying he respected the “aspirations, sentiments, and rightful expectations” of young Indians. He wrote that helping India’s younger generation achieve its dreams had been a “moral resolve” of his public life.
The Cockroach Janta Party, known as CJP, celebrated the announcement on X, posting: “Cockroaches won. Democracy won!” In New Delhi, students and activists took to the streets near Jantar Mantar, with many waving Indian flags, according to NBC News and images from AFP via Getty Images.
Why did Dharmendra Pradhan resign?
The pressure on Pradhan followed anger over the handling of alleged leaks tied to India’s NEET undergraduate exam, the highly competitive test used for entry into medical schools. NBC News reported that online leaks disrupted the exam in May and helped set off one of the country’s largest recent waves of public dissent.
Protests spread from New Delhi to Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Ahmedabad. Earlier in the week, police used tear gas and batons near Parliament in New Delhi as crowds gathered, NBC News reported.
The CJP had demanded Pradhan’s resignation along with broader changes to how exam leak cases are handled. The group also called for compensation for families of students who died by suicide after the leaks and for action against police officers involved in suppressing demonstrations.
On Saturday, the CJP posted that families should receive one crore rupees, or about $100,000, in compensation. The movement also demanded action over what it called police conduct on the 20th, referring to officers as “police goons” in its post.
What is the Cockroach Janta Party?
The Cockroach Janta Party began as an online parody of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, according to NBC News. Its name refers to a remark by India’s Chief Justice Surya Kant comparing unemployed young people to “cockroaches,” NBC News reported.
The movement has grown into a national protest force centered on students and young people angry about exams, unemployment and government accountability. Its rise has put new pressure on Modi, who made his first public comments on the paper leak scandal Thursday night in a video posted to Instagram.
“I know the paper leak is not a trivial matter,” Modi said in the video, according to NBC News. He announced fast-track courts for cases involving examination paper leaks and defended his government’s response.
Protesters said the promise did not meet their demands. Hundreds returned to the streets of New Delhi on Friday while authorities closed 18 metro stations, disrupting a key transport system in a city of 23 million residents, NBC News reported.
Activist Sonam Wangchuk’s 26-day hunger strike had also intensified the protest campaign. NBC News reported that police forcefully admitted him to a hospital last weekend. Wangchuk said Friday on X that he ended the fast after appeals from dozens of members of Parliament and after long negotiations, citing concern about possible violence.
After Pradhan quit, Wangchuk called the resignation “a victory of peace, patience & perseverance” in a post on X. He congratulated the CJP and India’s Gen Z, thanking citizens for rising up “from every corner of the nation.”
This story draws on original reporting from NBC News.