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Pradhan quits after CJP
India’s Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned on Saturday after weeks of youth-led protests by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) over alleged exam paper leaks and irregularities, with the CJP calling the move a victory and urging demonstrators to withdraw.
In New Delhi, the CJP’s founder Abhijeet Dipke said, “We have done it,” as crowds celebrated at Jantar Mantar, where the BBC reported police deployed around the area and said they would intervene only if they saw breaches of the law.
Pradhan announced his resignation on X after talks with the CJP, and the BBC quoted his post in Hindi explaining he had submitted his resignation to the prime minister “so that anti-national forces do not take advantage of this situation.”
The protests had swelled beyond the capital New Delhi, and the NPR report said the demonstrations began in early June and would end “in good faith” after the spokesman for protest leaders Saurav Das called on demonstrators to go home.
The BBC also described the CJP as a satirical campaign with an AI-generated cockroach mascot that evolved into a platform for young people’s anxieties and dissent, with the movement led by Dipke and gaining momentum after a police crackdown left dozens injured.
Demands met, cases dropped
After Pradhan’s resignation, the government agreed to a set of demands that included dropping police cases against protesters and paying compensation to families of students who died by suicide after the alleged paper leaks, according to the NBC News report citing Reuters.
NBC News also quoted the CJP confirming it had called off its protests because all of its major demands “have been accepted by the government,” while the movement posted “Cockroaches won. Democracy won!” on X.
The BBC said Pradhan’s resignation was announced hours after the CJP called off its five-week-long protest, and it described thousands of jubilant supporters continuing to celebrate at Jantar Mantar.
In a separate account, the AP News report said the Cockroach movement called off its weeks of protests on Saturday after the government accepted all of its demands, including broader reforms to India’s education system and a commitment that no legal action would be taken against those who participated in the protests.
The NPR report added that the protests posed the most serious challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 12-year rule, and it quoted sociologist Raheel Dhattiwala describing education as “a kind of leveler, bringing everybody together,” as the demonstrations cut across traditional demographic lines.
New education minister appointed
Following Pradhan’s resignation, India’s president’s office confirmed that Pralhad Joshi would be assigned additional charge of the Ministry of Education, with NDTV reporting that Joshi was already Union Minister of Food and Consumer Affairs.
NDTV quoted Joshi’s first comments after the confirmation, including his statement, “I accept this responsibility with a sense of duty and humility,” and it also reported that Pradhan’s resignation came on the 35th day of protests in Delhi’s Jantar Mantar over exam paper leaks.
The Times of India reported that President Droupadi Murmu assigned senior BJP leader Pralhad Joshi the additional charge of the Union education ministry on the advice of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and it said Joshi would continue to hold portfolios of new and renewable energy and consumer affairs, food and public distribution.
The Times of India also said the CJP announced the immediate withdrawal of its 36-day agitation at Jantar Mantar in “good faith” after the government accepted its key demands, including withdrawing FIRs filed against peaceful protesters.
In the BBC’s account of the movement’s origins and scale, it said the CJP quickly gained a huge following online, turning the “cockroaches” term into a symbol of defiance and resilience with 26 million followers on Instagram.
