Dharmendra Pradhan resigns amid massive student protests over NEET leak fiasco

Dharmendra Pradhan, whose resignation as Education Minister was the core demand of the protesters, announced his decision in a lengthy post on X. Pradhan underlined that stepping down was not a matter of personal prestige.

Dharmendra Pradhan announced his resignation as Union Education Minister on Saturday, saying the decision was driven by the need to protect the future of students and prevent "anti-national forces" from exploiting the massive youth protests at Delhi's Jantar Mantar. Pradhan, whose resignation was the core demand of the protesters, announced his decision on X hours before the third round of talks between the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) and the Centre.

Ahead of the third round of talks, the CJP leaders said Pradhan's resignation was "non-negotiable". A couple of hours later, Pradhan announced his resignation in a lengthy social media post, addressing the "country's youth". Pradhan, who had come under flak over a spate of exam paper leaks, made it clear at the outset that stepping down was "not a matter of personal prestige".

He underlined that developments of the past 10 days had left him "deeply saddened", referring to the massive July 20 violence during the students' march to Parliament.

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