The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) on Saturday called off its protest over the NEET paper leak issue “with immediate effect” and asked supporters at Delhi's Jantar Mantar to return home. The announcement came in a joint government-CJP press conference in the evening following the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan as Union Education Minister. His resignation was the CJP's core demand.
CJP spokespersons Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, flanked by Union ministers JP Nadda and Jitendra Singh at the press conference, told reporters that the CJP ended the protest in “good faith” that the government would keep its word on the demands.
With one demand already met, the satirical political group’s spokespersons said the government has assured them that police cases filed against students would be withdrawn, no action would be taken against them in future and maximum compensation as per rules and regulations would be given to the families of students who died by suicide over the NEET paper leak.
"We urge all protesters to go home as the government has accepted our demands," Saurav Das said in the presence of the two Union ministers. Ashutosh Ranka added, “The government has accepted all our demands after 36 days of protest. We urge everyone to peacefully withdraw from the protest sites. Our demands were not radical but basic, and the government has now accepted them.”
Policemen using loudspeakers asked the protesters to vacate Jantar Mantar in Central Delhi now that their demand has been met. The protest that had been going on for over a month had led to dwindling crowds in nearby markets, traffic diversions and Metro station closures.
“We had demanded compensation of Rs 1 crore for the families of NEET victims. The government has agreed to this, stating that an honorary compensation will be given to those families under whatever rules and regulations allow. Apart from this, we also placed a five-point demand charter before the government, which talked about broader educational reforms and exam reforms. We will meet the government again in about four weeks regarding that demand charter,” Saurav Das said.
Several FIRs have been filed against protesters across India after the July 20 “Chalo Sansad” march at Jantar Mantar. The CJP said the government has agreed to withdraw the FIRs.
"Our second demand was that all the FIRs filed against the protesters, not just in Delhi but in all BJP-ruled and BJP-allied states, should be withdrawn. The government has accepted that demand as well. Furthermore, the withdrawal will be done shortly. The government has assured us that it will share copies of all the FIRs filed - as per our last information, 15 to 20 FIRs were filed in Delhi - and we will receive those copies within three to four days in any case. The government has also assured that the withdrawal will be done shortly,” Saurav Das said.
He said the CJP has shared a draft in the form of a written guarantee with the government. “The government has said it will share this with us by Tuesday. We hope that by Tuesday we will receive the government’s guarantees regarding these FIRs and any future action.”
Quitting to thwart designs of anti-national forces: Pradhan
Earlier in the afternoon, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned from his post. His resignation was accepted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
In a post on X, Pradhan said he had submitted his resignation to the Prime Minister, stating that he had decided to step down to prevent “anti-national forces” from spreading confusion and taking advantage of the situation.
While acknowledging irregularities in the 2026 NEET-UG examination conducted on May 3, he said he had never shied away from accountability and responsibility in the matter.
“My resolve was that no deserving student should suffer because of examination mafias and no student should face injustice,” he said. He said some people holding responsible portfolios, an indirect reference to the Opposition Congress, had tried to create hindrances by misleading young students and the youth of the country.
“The developments of the last 10 days have saddened me. This is not a matter of personal prestige for me. India’s youth power is the true strength of this country,” he added.
Follow us
