Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan Resigned - Big Victory For Protesting Students
New Delhi: In a dramatic political development following weeks of escalating student unrest, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has tendered his resignation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The announcement, made on Saturday, comes after a deadlock between the Union government and the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), which has been leading nationwide student demonstrations.
Pradhan’s resignation was described by the CJP as a “non-negotiable” condition ahead of a crucial third round of talks aimed at ending a month-long standoff. Protests spearheaded by the group at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar and across multiple cities escalated significantly following violent clashes with security forces on 20 July during a march towards Parliament.
In a public letter addressed to the country’s students, Pradhan cited his four-decade commitment to education reform and expressed deep pain over the situation. He defended the government’s response following the irregularities identified during the May 3 NEET-UG exam, outlining the swift transfer of the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the cancellation of the compromised exam, and the re-conduct of the test on 21 June using a “whole-of-government approach”.
In his resignation letter to PM Modi, Pradhan said he was stepping down keeping in mind the future of students, who should focus on studies instead of protest sites. He added that the resignation was necessitated by the situation at Jantar Mantar and across the country, to ensure anti-national forces do not take advantage.
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Reacting to the education minister’s resignation, Cockroach Janta Party’s founder Abhijeet Dipke said “Democracy won”. The CJP leader, addressing the gathering at Jantar Mantar, further said that the fight is not yet over, and this is the beginning and this is just the first ticket.
