India’s Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan bowed to public pressure from the so-called Cockroaches movement on Saturday and resigned.
“I have great respect for the legitimate expectations of this country’s youth,” Pradhan wrote on X. He added that he had submitted his resignation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The move was a key demand of the Cockroach People’s Party (CJP) and its young supporters who believe the minister should take political responsibility for a scandal involving leaked documents from a college entrance exam.
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Recent protests in the capital New Delhi saw violent clashes between supporters of the CJP and the police. Many people were injured.
The CJP was founded in May after a chief justice referred to unemployed young people as cockroaches. It describes itself as a “satirical political movement” and organizes its activities primarily online.
Observers say the protest movement has developed into a major challenge for the government, which has offer to hold talks with its representatives.
