Indian youth protesters have called off weeks of demonstrations and celebrated in the streets after the education minister quit and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government bowed to demands including calls to fix a cheating-prone exam system.

In a statement on Saturday afternoon, July 25, 2026, the education minister, Dharmendra 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.

"I am saddened by what unfolded over the last 10 days but I deeply respect the aspirations, feelings, and legitimate expectations ‌of the country’s youth.”

The protests were organised by a newly formed youth political movement, the Cockroach Janata party (CJP), which has escalated into a nationwide uprising of youth dissent this week.

The core demand of the CJP and its supporters was the resignation of Pradhan over an exam leak scandal that has devastated the lives of millions of students and led to more than a dozen students taking their own lives.

Demonstrations at the Jantar Mantar protest site in the centre of New Delhi intensified during the week and began spreading to other parts of the country.

Police fired tear gas and charged with batons at protesters as they tried to march to parliament this week.

The government held two rounds of talks with CJP leaders on Monday and Friday but little headway was made, with the youth-led movement sticking to their demands ahead of another proposed meeting on Saturday.

Prime Minister Modi’s refusal to sack his minister over the scandal was widely seen as symbolic of the alleged lack of accountability of the Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) and its repeated failure to address the issues faced by young people, particularly in the country’s flawed education system.

The movement evolved to include concerns over unemployment, opportunities for young people and what critics brand as Modi’s increasingly authoritarian style of governance.

The protests became one of the biggest challenges to Hindu nationalist Modi’s administration since his 2024 re-election.

The protesters’ other demands included compensation for those affected by examination irregularities and for legal cases against protesters to be dropped, according to CJP spokesman Ashutosh Ranka.

News of the resignation sparked celebrations among the thousands camped at the Jantar Mantar protest site in the capital, as the Cockroach party declared victory.

“We won't stop here. This is just the beginning. I salute all students, all the volunteers who have been sitting here for the last 36 days,” the movement’s founder Abhijeet Dipke said.

CJP organisers confirmed they had called off their demonstration after Pradhan’s resignation and a meeting with senior BJP ministers on Saturday afternoon.

“We withdraw the agitation in good faith, with the understanding that the agreed-upon terms will be executed within the agreed-upon timelines,” the party's chief spokesman Saurav told reporters.

“So we request the protesters to withdraw immediately and return home peacefully. We will inform you of our future strategy or any other issues,”.

The party said the government agreed on maximum possible compensation for families of paper leak-related suicides, all cases against demonstrators will be withdrawn, and a five-point exam reform charter will be considered.