The Cockroach Janta Party called off weeks of protests in New Delhi after the government accepted its demands and Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned over the NEET paper leak controversy.
India’s youth-led Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) announced an end to its weeks-long protest on Saturday after the government accepted its core demands and Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned over the 2026 NEET paper leak controversy. The announcement brought a dramatic close to one of the largest waves of youth-led dissent seen in India in recent years.
Pradhan confirmed his resignation in a post on social media platform X, stating that he had submitted his resignation letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He said he did not want anti-national forces to take advantage of the situation that had developed at Jantar Mantar and across the country, and expressed respect for the aspirations and legitimate expectations of the country’s youth.
Following the resignation, CJP national spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka confirmed that the government had accepted the group’s remaining demands after a fresh round of talks with senior Union ministers JP Nadda and Jitendra Singh. Ranka told reporters that all of the group’s demands had been accepted and appealed to protesters to withdraw peacefully and return home.
Beyond Pradhan’s resignation, the movement had pressed for two additional demands: compensation for the families of students who died by suicide after the NEET-UG exam was cancelled and re-scheduled, and assurance that no criminal action would be taken against protesters involved in the demonstrations. The group had sought roughly 10 million rupees, around 103,554 US dollars, for each affected family, along with a guarantee against punitive action targeting participants. CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke reacted to the resignation by declaring the movement’s persistence had paid off, invoking the group’s namesake by saying that once a cockroach gets in, it does not leave, according to Outlook India.
The protest movement began in early June 2026 at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, initiated by the CJP alongside student bodies including the Students Federation of India and the All India Students Association. The demonstrators were demanding Pradhan’s resignation over the 2026 NEET paper leak and irregularities in CBSE on-screen marking, along with broader reforms in how public examinations are conducted. The agitation gained further national attention when social activist Sonam Wangchuk began an indefinite hunger strike at the protest site in late June, which he ended after 26 days, shortly before this week’s talks with the government, according to Al Jazeera.
Tensions escalated sharply on July 20, when tens of thousands of demonstrators marched from Jantar Mantar toward Parliament. Delhi Police responded with tear gas, baton charges and water cannons, and detained a number of protesters. Police reported that nearly 180 people were injured during the clashes, including both security personnel and protesters. The crackdown drew condemnation from opposition parties, with several leaders, including Congress’s Rahul Gandhi, extending support to the protesting students in the days that followed.
With Pradhan’s resignation and the acceptance of the group’s outstanding demands, the government appears to have moved to defuse one of the most visible challenges to Prime Minister Modi’s administration since it began its third term. Details of formal, written commitments from the government on compensation and legal protections for protesters had not been independently verified at the time of publication. It also remains unclear who will be named as Pradhan’s successor at the Education Ministry, and whether the broader reforms sought by CJP regarding examination oversight will be taken up in subsequent talks.
