New Delhi: The Union Minister for Education, Dharmendra Pradhan, has resigned after a week of mass demonstrations, handing a major victory to a new youth movement that has posed an unprecedented challenge to Narendra Modi’s government.
In a statement on Saturday afternoon, Pradhan said he had submitted his letter of resignation to the prime minister after student pressure. “Considering the situation that has arisen at Jantar Mantar and across the country, so that anti-national forces do not take advantage of this situation … I have sent my resignation letter to the prime minister,” Pradhan wrote in a social media post.
In the 12 years the Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) has been in power, it was the first time one of Modi’s most loyal ministers has been forced into resigning due to public pressure.
The protests were organised by a newly formed youth political movement that called itself the Cockroach Janata party (CJP), and escalated into a nationwide uprising of youth dissent this week.
Pradhan’s announcement came just hours before CJP leaders were due to meet BJP ministers to reiterate their demands for his resignation, as crowds of protesters continued to swell in the capital, Delhi.
