Amidst Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protests, senior government officials have declared that the Centre has no intention of caving in to calls for the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
The Central government further highlighted that the government has neither dismissed the lapses nor made an effort to avoid accountability.
“There was a problem. We have said this on record and have taken responsibility on record. The government is not running away from it,” a top functionary expressed in a conversation with The Indian Express.
The government views the issue as administratively resolved and intends to concentrate on making sure the academic year runs properly instead of rehashing the settled dispute. The progress in NEET, CUET and JEE Main admissions was underscored to make the point.
The aforementioned officer stated, “The majority of students have gone back to campuses.” The person added that almost 72,000 students have enrolled in Delhi University, which is a sign that classes have begun.
According to the Centre, those leading the agitation are not “primary stakeholders” impacted by the examination process.
“We are not saying people should not protest. In a democracy, people have every right to protest. But who is raising the issue, how it is being raised and who is behind it are different questions,” another official argued.
Hence, the government is unwilling to consider demands for Pradhan’s resignation owing to this distinction. “It is a political question. Should we succumb to political pressure?” he asked in relation to an inquiry regarding the same.
The official further conveyed that the government has already acknowledged the oversights and made amends.
He stated, “The system was compromised by people we trusted. We are not the paper mafia. People within the system let us down; we trusted them. We did not hide the leak. We accepted responsibility and tried to fix it.”
The government, however, has maintained that it is not against a debate in Parliament, although it refuses to succumb to pressure for Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation.
The official noted, “There should be debate. There should be dialogue in the House. The government is fully prepared to answer every question.”
Singh and Nadda meet Wangchuk
Meanwhile, union ministers Dr Jitendra Singh and JP Nadda met Sonam Wangchuk at the Medanta Hospital on the evening of 21st July (Tuesday) after he published a list of his revised demands and announced that he would break his fast on 20th July if any of the three conditions were satisfied.
He wanted the government to accept responsibility for the paper leaks, MPs to agree to raise the matter in the House after CJP leaders march to Parliament, or political figures to visit him in the hospital.
Interestingly, Pradhan’s resignation was not included in the list, which was considered a major step down from his previous status.
The meeting lasted for an hour, and the ministers informed him that the government was prepared for discussions in the Parliament, India Today reported.
Wangchuk was told that necessary measures would be made to implement national educational reforms. He was asked to motivate students to have faith in the government and refrain from taking the law into their own hands.
Singh had a four-hour meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah before this development.
WHEN WILL I END THE FAST….!
— Sonam Wangchuk (@Wangchuk66) July 20, 2026
Not withstanding my health my fast continues till after the Sansad Chalo March, and will be broken only under the following circumstances… pic.twitter.com/kaOGx2Nk4T
Congress-led opposition’s political drama
Jitendra Singh also met Rahul Gandhi, who was demonstrating outside Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s official 7 Lok Kalyan Marg residence before meeting Wangchuk.
Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Mallikarjun Kharge, K.C. Venugopal, Pawan Khera and others were demonstrating and were later removed by cops. Other opposition leaders like Akhilesh Yadav and Supriya Sule also joined them.
"It was learnt that Congress Party National President Mallikarjun Kharge and other senior leaders like Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and other had suddenly started a protest. It was also reported that the place was not very conducive to a sit-in protest. It was causing… pic.twitter.com/8EVA200wNj
— Dr Jitendra Singh (@DrJitendraSingh) July 21, 2026
Singh stated, “It was learnt that Congress Party National President Mallikarjun Kharge and other senior leaders like Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and others had suddenly started a protest.
It was also reported that the place was not very conducive to a sit-in protest. It was causing significant inconvenience to the public.”
Therefore, he, along with the Union Home Secretary, met them to “politely present our point of view and argue that a discussion with the government would be better.”
Rahul Gandhi told them that the demonstration would be promptly suspended if “the government agreed to a discussion in Parliament on NEET and related education issues.”
“I asked him this question not once but two or three times. Discussions were held with the top leadership of the government,” Singh stated, pointing out that he assured the opposition leaders on behalf of the government that their demand would be fulfilled.
The Gandhi scion was told that “the government is ready to discuss NEET in Parliament, both related issues and the ongoing protests.” However, he declared, “I also want the Education Minister to resign.”
Singh responded that he made no such submission earlier despite repeated enquiries and only wanted the matter to be taken up in Parliament to end his agitation; however, he remarked, “My demands have changed.”
The minister reminded him that he was “changing the goalpost”, but he referred to it as his “wish.” The former added, “We then politely explained to him that it is unbecoming of a senior leader like you, who is also the Leader of the Opposition, to go back on your word in a matter of moments.”
He reiterated that the centre is willing to debate all these concerns in Parliament; however, Rahul Gandhi insisted that they would not leave and challenged, “You can take us away.”
Afterwards, Singh replied, “I came to discuss this with you. I didn’t intend to take you away, very politely. I just came to make this request. But it seems you’re not in the mood to find a solution through the media”, to which the Rae Bareli MP retorted, “You can draw your own conclusions. I’ll do what I want.”
Singh expressed, “It’s very unfortunate that the LoP behaves this way, changing his stance so quickly. This means he’s in a mood of conflict. He doesn’t want to cooperate with the government to discuss or advance public interest issues. They’ve come with the intention of confrontation, conflict, and finding an issue. And as far as the government is concerned, you remember the Prime Minister made it very clear today that strict action will be taken against those responsible for the NEET exam and paper leaks and is already being taken.”
The minister highlighted, “Many people have also been detained. This is an issue that has affected almost every state in the country, and we will not allow or tolerate injustice against our children. Despite this, if the opposition and the Leader of the Opposition are unwilling to cooperate, I’m sure the people of the country are watching.”
