Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Saturday resigned from his post in the wake of the ongoing protests in Delhi’s Jantar Mantar seeking his ouster.

Pradhan said he submitted his resignation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi so that “anti-national forces” do not take advantage of the ongoing protests, and so that no student “gets embroiled in legal battles”.

Pradhan’s resignation was the core demand of protesters led by the Cockroach Janta Party political campaign, who have been holding demonstrations in Delhi since June 6. The protesters had been calling on him to quit on account of alleged mismanagement of a series of competitive examination.

Minutes after the minister made the announcement on social media, the Cockroach Janta Party asserted: “Cockroaches won…democracy won! Jai Hind.”

However, it said that its other key demands – Rs 1 crore compensation for the families of undergraduate National Eligibility cum Entrance Test aspirants who died by suicide, no police action against student protesters, and an apology from the Rapid Action Force and the police – are pending.

The Cockroach Janta Party said that the protesters at Jantar Mantar, as well as the rest of the country, are “still waiting on the rest of the demands”.

Cockroach Janta Party chief Abhijeet Dipke was quoted by PTI as telling protesters in Delhi: “This is the proof that if you don’t get scared, if you don’t bow down in front of this government, you can take anyone’s resignation. Don’t be scared in democracy.”

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that Pradhan’s resignation is a “huge step towards reshaping our education system”. He said in a social media post that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should apologise to the protesting students and take action “against those guilty of violence against students”.

Party chief Mallikarjun Kharge said that the development marked “the victory of truth and the defeat of Modi ji’s stubbornness”. Kharge said that it was also a defeat for a united opposition, “who raised their voices from Parliament to the streets in the interest of the students”.

The protest

The agitation in the national capital began on June 6, when the Cockroach Janta Party began a protest at Jantar Mantar.

On July 19, thousands joined the protest in Delhi after the police forcibly took activist Sonam Wangchuk, who had been on a hunger strike, to hospital. A march to Parliament on Monday was met with a crackdown by the police. Dozens were injured as the police used lathis, fired tear gas shells and pellet guns against the demonstrators.

The police action turbocharged the agitation, which soon spread to other parts of the country.

Wangchuk ended his hunger strike after 26 days in the early hours of Friday at Gurugram’s Medanta Hospital in the presence of Union ministers Jitendra Singh and JP Nadda.

The activist on Saturday said that Pradhan’s resignation was a victory for peace, patience and perseverance.

“Congratulations CJP, Gen Z of the nation and thank you all citizens for shedding fear and the fear of fear and rising up from every corner of the nation,” Wangchuk said, adding that the time had come to move ahead from accountability to reforms.

Recent events caused deep pain: Pradhan

Pradhan, in a letter posted on social media on Saturday, said that events from the past ten days caused him “deep pain”, and maintained that this was “not a matter of personal ego” for him.

“I hope that anti-national forces do not exploit the situation at Jantar Mantar and across the country, that national unity is maintained, that the future of even a single student in India is not caught up in legal complications, and that our children can dedicate their time to studies and focus on building their careers,” the BJP leader said in the letter.

Pradhan said that when “irregularities” were detected in the NEET-UG examination held on 3 May 2026, the Union government handed over the investigation to the Central Bureau of Investigation, cancelled the examination and announced a new examination date.

The re-examination was “successfully conducted” on June 21, he said.

“From the very first day, I accepted responsibility for this matter and never shied away from the situation,” Pradhan said. “I was determined that the future of any deserving student should not be harmed because of the examination mafia, and that no student should face injustice.”

Written by Neerad Pandharipande. Edited by Nachiket Deuskar.

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