The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) has reiterated that it will not continue negotiations with the Centre unless Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan steps down, just hours before the third round of discussions scheduled for Saturday.
CJP spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka said the party’s position remains unchanged, stressing that the minister’s resignation is essential for any meaningful dialogue, reports NDTV.
“Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation is NON-NEGOTIABLE. If it’s a no from the government, there’s no point in further discussion,” Ranka posted on X.
The second round of discussions took place on Friday at the Constitution Club, where Union Ministers JP Nadda and Jitendra Singh met a CJP delegation.
The next meeting is expected to take place on Saturday afternoon after the ministers review the protesters’ demands.
The CJP has placed three key demands before the government, the resignation of Pradhan, assurance that no legal action will be taken against protesters, and compensation of Rs 1 crore for the families of students who died by suicide following the NEET paper leak.
According to the party, the Centre has, in principle, accepted two of those demands—protection from legal action for protesting students and compensation. However, the issue of the minister’s resignation remains unresolved.
Speaking after Friday’s meeting, JP Nadda said, “The meeting went on for almost two hours. They had three main demands and five reform suggestions for exams. We have told them that we will meet them again tomorrow afternoon (Saturday) and tell them about the discussions we had within the government.”
Despite the CJP’s insistence that the resignation is indispensable, government sources told NDTV that Dharmendra Pradhan is not expected to resign.
The sources said the government believes “resignation is the easiest decision to take” and added that it “stands with the minister”.
A government source told NDTV, “People have given us the mandate, and we will deliver.”
Over the past two days, the Centre has announced several measures aimed at tackling paper leak cases.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has declared that fast-track courts will be established to handle such cases.
The government is also preparing amendments to existing laws to introduce tougher penalties and higher fines for those involved in paper leaks.
Additionally, the Centre has replaced the education secretary, dismissed 47 officials of the National Testing Agency (NTA), and pledged a comprehensive overhaul of the examination body.
Responding to the dismissal of the NTA officials, CJP national spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka said the action was insufficient.
“We’ll have to look into a lot of details, but we’re talking about the same thing again. The ultimate accountability is with the education minister, because he is directly responsible for all the paper leaks and the students who committed suicide after the NEET paper leak. He will have to resign,” Ranka said.
