Arvind Kejriwal congratulates youth on Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation

NEW DELHI: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday hailed the resignation of Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan as a decisive triumph over governmental arrogance, calling it a milestone moment for the nation’s youth and democratic accountability.The minister’s departure follows weeks of widespread agitation and a 26-day hunger strike led by activist Sonam Wangchuk over the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak controversy. Addressing the nation on X, Arvind Kejriwal extended his congratulations to the youth and Gen Z activists who led the movement. “Congratulations to the entire country on Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation. Big win for democracy.”In an accompanying video message, Kejriwal emphasised how the protest restored faith in civic action during a period of growing public disillusionment: “Hello everyone.

Many, many congratulations to all of you. Heartiest congratulations to the youth and Gen Z of our country.It is a matter of great joy that your struggle bore fruit, and ultimately Dharmendra Pradhan had to resign. This is a huge victory for democracy. In our country, people were losing faith in democracy. People had started feeling that governments don’t listen, that the public has to keep crying and begging before governments, pleading for everything while governments never listen.”“There was such a massive struggle, and ultimately the arrogance of the government had to bow down–it had to yield before the public. This is a very big moment. It is a victory for democracy,” he added.Highlighting the severe emotional toll and tragic suicides associated with recurring exam irregularities, Kejriwal urged the Centre to take immediate steps to overhaul the national examination framework.”The government must now understand that you have to listen to the people. This is democracy–democracy is by the people, of the people, for the people. I hope the government fixes the NEET system so that paper leaks stop in this country from now on, and our children don’t have to commit suicide anymore. Jai Hind.“Echoing similar sentiments, AAP Delhi President Saurabh Bharadwaj praised the student movement for achieving what political opposition could not. “There was a lot of arrogance in the fact that when the Bharatiya Janata Party was in power, resignations didn’t happen here…Where major opposition parties failed to break that sense of arrogance, the country’s Gen Z, the young generation of this country, succeeded in making the government bow down to their demands.“In his resignation letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Dharmendra Pradhan stated that he stepped down to protect student interests and ensure young aspirants do not become “trapped in a web of confusion.”“For more than four decades, I have been associated with students, teachers, and the cause of education reform. I have always believed that a strong, inclusive, and forward-looking education system is the foundation of a strong nation,” Pradhan wrote. While the resignation marks a key turning point, student groups and activists continue to demand long-term structural reforms and compensation for affected families