India's 'cockroach' party ends protest after minister resigns

India's Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned on Saturday after mass youth-led protests demanded his ouster over a string of irregularities in potentially life-changing exams.

The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), the social media-driven movement behind the demonstrations, called off its protests shortly afterward.

Why did India's education minister resign?

Pradhan resigned after mounting pressure from thousands of young people who gathered in New Delhi and across the country this week under the CJP banner.

Protesters demanded an overhaul of the education system following exam paper leaks, and Pradhan himself said he could no longer treat the matter as one of personal prestige. His resignation came before a scheduled third round of talks with protest leaders.

What did Pradhan say in his resignation statement?

"I am pained to see the events of the past 10 days. This is not a matter of personal prestige for me," Pradhan said in a statement posted on X. "I have sent my resignation letter to the prime minister," he wrote in his letter, submitted in Hindi. He added, "India's youth power is the real strength of this nation. My resolve is that we will not let the country's youth get trapped in a vicious cycle of confusion."

Did the protests in Delhi end after Pradhan's resignation?

The CJP said all its demands had been met in a further round of talks and confirmed it was calling off the protests centred on the Jantar Mantar site in central New Delhi.

Police had fired tear gas and used batons against protesters earlier in the week as they tried to march from the site toward parliament. The government had held two rounds of talks with CJP leaders on Monday and Friday, making little initial progress before Pradhan's announcement.

How did protesters react to the resignation?

Protesters erupted in celebration after the announcement. "We have done it," CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke said, drawing a thunderous response from hundreds gathered at the site. The movement had expanded beyond exam grievances to include concerns over unemployment, opportunities for young people, and what critics call Prime Minister Narendra Modi's increasingly authoritarian style of governance.

The protests became one of the biggest challenges to Modi's Hindu nationalist administration since his 2024 re-election. CJP spokesman Ashutosh Ranka said protesters' other demands included compensation for those affected by examination irregularities and the dropping of legal cases against demonstrators.

What did opposition leaders say about the resignation?

Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi backed the protesters, calling Pradhan's resignation a "huge step." Gandhi called on Modi to "apologize" and show respect to students and India's future generations. "Action should be taken against those guilty of violence against students," he said.

Sunil, 27, who visited the protest site for the first time on Saturday to "experience the atmosphere," described the mood as "truly electrifying, especially after the minister's resignation." "What the young people did was commendable," he told AFP.