By Saurabh Sharma, Aftab Ahmed and Shilpa Jamkhandikar
NEW DELHI, July 25 (Reuters) - India's education minister resigned on Saturday, handing a major victory to youth protesters whose street protests over examination paper leaks had become a serious challenge for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Celebrations erupted at the Jantar Mantar site in the capital New Delhi, which has served as the main protest hub for days, with thousands of youngsters chanting victory slogans and dancing.
"We have done it,"
said Abhijeet Dipke, founder of the Cockroach Janta Party that led the protests, to loud cheers at the site.
India's biggest street protests of recent years had become a major problem for Modi this week as some opposition politicians voiced support for the youths and disrupted parliament proceedings. Scenes of unprecedented protests and police use of tear gas to control protesters had also fuelled public anger, though authorities defended their actions saying they were only ensuring law and order.
"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," Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan wrote in a post on X.
"I deeply respect the aspirations, feelings, and legitimate expectations of the country's youth."
The minister announced his resignation hours before protest leaders were set to hold another round of talks with ministers to assert their demands.
Those demands included the resignation of the education minister over the leak of the high-profile medical college entrance test paper in May, which led to the cancellation of results and the government ordering a retest, affected 2 million young people.
Pradhan's resignation is "a victory of peace, patience & perseverance," activist Sonam Wangchuk, who was on a hunger strike for 26 days to support the youngster's movement, wrote on X.
CELEBRATIONS AT PROTEST SITE
As the protests intensified this week, Modi departed from his usual mode of scripted addresses and monthly radio broadcasts to post a personal, self-shot video, saying he was pained by the exam paper leaks and would take strict action. The protesters said they would not relent unless the education minister resigned.
On Saturday, youngsters at the Jantar Mantar site shouted "Jai Hind", a patriotic slogan meaning "Victory to India", as the national anthem played on loud speakers and sweets were distributed among the crowd.
At least 1,000 police officials stood nearby guarding the area, according to Reuters journalists at the site.
Roads around the central business district of Connaught Place near the protest site were shut down amid celebrations and a swelling crowd of thousands of protesters.
Pradhan, 57, is a senior member of Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party and the son of a veteran BJP leader. A minister since Modi first took office in 2014, he has held several portfolios including petroleum and natural gas, and steel, before becoming education minister in 2021, and was even mentioned in the past as a potential BJP president.
After news of his resignation, federal authorities restored access to the mobile internet around the protest site, after blocking it for most of the week.
"Young generation is here. This is win for the constitution,” protester Tluanga Ralte said, walking with a copy of the Indian constitution at the protest site after Pradhan's resignation. "We are not a lazy generation."
OPPOSITION DEMANDS MODI APOLOGY
Supporters of India's youth-led "cockroach" movement had been protesting since June, but anger boiled over after police on Monday injured dozens of students, launching baton charges and firing tear gas to deter crowds of protesters marching on parliament.
Opposition Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi welcomed the education minister's resignation, but said those who hurt the students during protests "have to be held accountable" and Modi must apologise for such use of force.
Pradhan is only the second minister to resign following a scandal since Modi came to power in 2014. M.J. Akbar resigned as junior foreign minister in October 2018 to fight allegations of sexual harassment made by more than a dozen women during India's #MeToo movement.
Students, youth activists and opposition supporters had in recent days staged protests in the states of West Bengal, Telangana, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, holding placards demanding Pradhan's resignation and boycotting classes in some places.
"Remember, do not mess with cockroach," protest leader Dipke said in a statement on Saturday.
(Reporting by Saurabh Sharma, Aftab Ahmed, Aditya Kalra, Bhawika Chhabra, Krishna Das, YP Rajesh, Shilpa Jamkhandikar in New Delhi; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Susan Fenton)
