Vikas Pandey
Reporting from Jantar Mantar

Just a little while ago, I met a protester whom I have seen almost every day this week. He is always seen cleaning the site with a smile.

But today his smile was wider and brighter. "It's done, we won. What an amazing feeling," Vishal Rathore said.

But he adds that he will stay put because he wants the protesters to leave the place "squeaky clean".

"So we will be here for a few more days," he said.

It's not clear whether his plans will change now that the strike has been called off.

Vikas Pandey
Reporting from Jantar Mantar

The victory of these Gen Z protesters is one that is likely to be remembered for a long time.

Their movement has persuaded one of India's most powerful political leaders - Prime Minister Narendra Modi - to concede to one of its central demands after weeks of silence.

It is something even India's opposition parties have rarely managed to achieve over the past 12 years.

The questions about what comes next for the Cockroach Janta Party will come soon enough. But its leaders are not ready to answer them yet.

For now, it is simply time to celebrate after weeks on the streets - protesting in temperatures above 40C, standing through torrential rain and refusing to give up.

At Delhi's Jantar Mantar, where the CJP has been protesting for weeks now, there is a sense of jubilation in the air. Many people are chanting, dancing and singing to celebrate what they see as a victory.'This shows that the government has to listen to us,' one protester told the BBC's Yogita Limaye.

After meeting federal ministers, CJP spokesperson Saurav Das said the government had accepted all of the group's demands.

They included the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, 10m rupees (£77,737; $103,554) in compensation for the families of people who allegedly died by suicide after the exam paper leak, and no legal action against those who joined the protests.

Speaking at a press conference, Das said the group was withdrawing the protest "in good faith" and added that it had shared a draft of its written guarantee with the government, which would respond by Tuesday.

"All our demands have been accepted. We request the protestors to peacefully withdraw the protest with immediate effect," CJP spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka said.

We have just heard a CJP spokesperson say that they are calling off their protest after the government accepted its other demands.

We are bringing you more shortly.

Rahul Gandhi, leader of the opposition in parliament, has called Pradhan’s resignation a “major step towards revamping our education system”.

"Heartiest congratulations to every young person and student who took to the streets and stood firm to protect democracy, the constitution, and their own future," he wrote on X.

“I am proud of you all.”

Gandhi demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi apologise to the students and the government take action against those responsible for violence against protesters.

Image source, Rahul Gandhi/X

Geeta Pandey
Reporting from Delhi

This has been an extraordinary week in Indian politics that has culminated in Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan giving in to the cockroach protesters’ demand to resign. Here's how it happened:

1. Activist Sonam Wangchuk, who had been sitting on a hunger strike at Jantar Mantar in support of the CJP for three weeks, was forcibly removed by the police in a morning raid on 18 July and taken to hospital.
2. Tens of thousands of protesters turned up on 20 July to take part in the CJP and Wangchuk’s call to march on the parliament as it began its monsoon session. The first round of talks between the CJP and government ministers failed to arrive at a consensus. A brutal crackdown left dozens of protesters wounded when police used batons and tear gas on them. Police said 118 of their personnel were also injured.
3. The violence against the youth lead to a massive outrage in India and helped swell the crowds of protesters who came in ever larger numbers to show their anger. The disaffection also spread to other parts of India, with large crowds turning out to protest in Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore and several other cities.
4. The government reached out to Wangchuk in hospital on Tuesday night in a bid to persuade him to call off his fast – which he finally did early Friday morning.
5. After ignoring the protesters for nearly five weeks, PM Modi finally broke his silence on Thursday to say they had “decided to set up fast-track courts to ensure swift and stringent punishment for those involved in paper leaks”. Just before Thursday midnight, he posted a selfie video saying a tough new law on examination paper leaks was being prepared.

Image source, EPA

Azadeh Moshiri
Reporting from Jantar Mantar, Delhi

Image source, Getty Images

I remember speaking to CJP's founder Abhijeet Dipke when the Boston University alumnus launched this movement just over a month ago.

Despite his background in politics, he told me he had created the Cockroach Janta Party's social media accounts "as a joke".

Now, the movement he helped found has secured a major concession from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government - a rare moment where sustained public pressure appears to have forced a powerful government to change course.

When we spoke, Dipke did not rule out the CJP eventually becoming a political party. But he insisted that his immediate focus was on building a peaceful movement.

Many protesters have told me that part of the movement's appeal lies precisely in the fact that it is not a political party.

With one of its central demands now met, the question is - what comes next for the Cockroach Janta Party?

Vikas Pandey
Reporting from Jantar Mantar

We are now slightly away from the protest site, and I can see young people walking and celebrating on almost every arterial road leading to Jantar Mantar.

Some are carrying flags, others are chanting slogans, while groups continue making their way towards the protest site.

"We want to get to Jantar Mantar," one young man tells me. "But if we can't, we'll just party wherever we are."

Even as police restrictions remain in place, the crowds are continuing to grow.

Yogita Limaye
Reporting from Jantar Mantar

This isn't the first time PM Modi's government has faced big protests. And it's not the first time it's been forced into a climbdown either.

Back in 2021, the government repealed farm laws after a year-long agitation by farmers. But those earlier protests were seen to be about issues that affected specific groups or religions.

This one resonated with a large section of middle-class India, cutting across identities of religion, caste or sectors. And while it centred around the specific issue of medical entrance exam leaks, increasingly what we have seen on the ground is people voicing their anger about the lack of educational opportunities and jobs in India.

The protests have also been mostly organic - people learning about them on social media and deciding they wanted to come out too.

That is a key reason why a government that has been so confident in dealing with protests in the past seemed rattled this time.

For the first time in 12 years, Modi seemed at his wits' end, putting out videos two nights in a row hoping to reach out to India's youth.

But they seemingly fuelled the backlash further.

After the resignation, the question is, can the prime minister regain lost ground? And can he regain the trust of people who told us they used to be his supporters but were extremely disappointed with how he reacted to these protests?

Zoya Mateen

This may be remembered as a protest made up of not just marches and slogans, but also memes, reels, fit checks and jokes.

For days, young protesters documented almost every moment online. There were "get ready with me" videos before marches, memes after clashes with police, workout reels about running from baton charges and jokes made while crying when hit by tear gas.

Humour wasn't a distraction from the movement; it became one of its defining languages.

Those videos travelled far beyond the protest sites. They drew in curious onlookers, helped others follow events in real time and, in many cases, persuaded first-time protesters to join in.

Today, as crowds celebrate Pradhan's resignation at Jantar Mantar, it is worth remembering that the same internet culture many dismissed as frivolous helped carry forward one of India's biggest youth-led protest movements in years.

The placards mattered - but so did the reels.

Want to read more on this? Head here.

Image source, Zoya Mateen

...here's what has happened so far:

• Indian Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has resigned, in a significant win for a youth-led protest movement that gathered momentum over the past month.
• The resignation follows weeks of demonstrations led by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), a collective that began as satire before expanding into a broader campaign for accountability and education reforms.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi accepted Pradhan's resignation earlier on Saturday. The government has not yet announced who will replace him as minister.
• Protesters are continuing to gather at Delhi's Jantar Mantar - the main protest site - with many celebrating what they see as a major victory.
• The CJP has welcomed Pradhan's resignation but says its demands go beyond that - they have not yet announced their next steps.
• There is no clarity yet on whether the protests will end now, continue in a different form or evolve into a broader movement.
• Security remains tight around the protest site, with additional barricades and police checkpoints in place.

We'll continue bringing you the latest developments throughout the day.

The Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP's) national president Nitin Nabin has said that Pradhan’s decision to step down reflects the "highest standards of integrity and selfless service in public life".

Pradhan is one of the BJP’s senior leaders and a close aide of Prime Minister Modi.

In a social media post, Nabin lauded Pradhan for playing a pivotal role in reforming India’s educational landscape.

“The party stands firmly with Shri Dharmendra Pradhan Ji in this decision.”

Image source, Hindustan Times via Getty Images

Soutik Biswas
India Correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

The most important thing about India's student protests is not the paper leaks.

It's what they reveal about democracy.

For years, politics has revolved around elections, identity and ideology. This movement asks a simpler question: can the state still govern competently and fairly?

Millions of young Indians see competitive exams as their only path to a better life. When that promise is broken, they are demanding not just justice but accountability.

As political scientist Yamini Aiyar puts it, they are seeking "accountability for governance in sites that are non-electoral".

That may be the movement's real legacy.

Democracies do not live by elections alone. They survive when governments are held accountable between elections too.

If the CJP protests have achieved anything, they have reminded India that democratic legitimacy comes not just from winning votes, but from governing well.

Read my story here

Vikas Pandey
Reporting from Jantar Mantar

Since news of Pradhan's resignation broke, politicians from all parties have been making their way to Jantar Mantar.

As speeches are made from the stage, one slogan cuts through the celebrations.

"Just because you're in the opposition, don't smile too much," protesters scream.

"Accountability is a system now," they continue. "We'll ask you the same questions."

The line draws some of the biggest cheers I've heard all day.

For all the celebrations here, it's also a reminder that many protesters see this as something bigger than the resignation of one minister - a demand for accountability, from whoever is in power.

Azadeh Moshiri
Reporting from Jantar Mantar, Delhi

More people are making their way to Jantar Mantar as news of Pradhan's resignation spreads.

A nearby road has been closed and police have erected fresh barricades, forcing several young people to get out of their tuk-tuks and continue on foot.

When I asked a police officer why the road had been shut, he said it was "a new arrangement for law and order".

He did not link the restrictions to the protests. But we have seen security being tightened in recent days, with more barricades and checkpoints appearing around the area as the demonstrations gathered momentum.

Spokespersons of the CJP are meeting federal ministers JP Nadda and Jitendra Singh in Delhi.

This is the third round of talks between the two sides this week and the first since Pradhan’s resignation.

Image source, ANI

The first meeting was held at Nadda’s residence on Monday. The CJP later insisted that future talks be held at a neutral venue.

The latest talks are being held about a kilometre from the protest site - in the heart of the Indian capital.

Activist Sonam Wangchuk, who sat on a hunger strike for 26 days in support of the CJP, has welcomed the education minister's resignation and called it a “victory of democracy”.

In a post on X, external, he congratulated the CJP, Gen Z and all citizens "for shedding fear and the fear of fear and rising up from every corner of the nation”.

Wangchuk broke his hunger strike in the early hours of Friday.

“From accountability, now to reforms,” his post read.

Image source, Sonam Wangchuk/X

India's opposition leaders have welcomed Pradhan’s resignation, with many calling it a victory for the youth-led protest movement.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge called it a “victory for the millions of our youth who took to the streets to demand an overhaul of the education system across the country”.

Veteran politician Sharad Pawar called it a “major victory for the united power of the nation’s youth”.

“This struggle - in which the youth stood firm against injustice without fear of suppression and compelled the government to accept moral responsibility - stands as a testament to the strength of democracy,” he wrote on X.

Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav called it a "big victory for the youth", but said it should serve as a lesson to all political parties to strengthen examination systems and prevent paper leaks in the future.

Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal has also called it a “big win for the democracy”.

Vikas Pandey
Reporting from Jantar Mantar

I've been coming to Jantar Mantar for some days now.

For much of that time, the mood wasn't one of sadness but of nervous anticipation - conversations about what could happen next, speculation over arrests, questions about whether the movement had achieved anything at all.

Today felt different.

As I walked through the protest site, I saw nothing but happiness everywhere.

There were smiles, embraces and celebrations, but more importantly, a quiet confidence. The young protesters had managed to do something few thought possible: forced one of the most powerful governments India has seen to acknowledge their demands.

For them, this isn't just about one resignation or one political victory - it is proof that sustained public pressure can produce results.