New Delhi: Release of activist Sonam Wangchuk, resignation of education minister Dharmendra Pradhan, and Rs 1 crore compensation to the family of each NEET aspirant who died by suicide—these are the demands raised by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) in a memorandum to the Union Health Minister J. P. Nadda Monday.
CJP chief spokesperson Saurav Das and national spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka met Union Minister of Health, J. P. Nadda and submitted a memorandum which said: “This is with regards to the ongoing Cockroach Janta Party protest at Jantar Mantar. The first in a series of peaceful protests was held on 6 June, followed by a series of peaceful gatherings in different cities of the country. Our core demand from Day 1 has been the resignation/sacking of Mr Dharmendra Pradhan’s, the current Minister of Education.”
The CJP added: “The youth of this country believes that Mr Pradhan has completely failed in his capacity as the Education Minister of India. He is directly responsible for multiple paper leaks, including NEET 2026, and other exam fiascos, most recently being CBSE 12th portal chaos and CUET exam delay. Due to the NEET paper leak, 21 students (as per our records) committed suicide.”
“Multiple exams (papers) have either (been) leaked, delayed or faced technical errors in recent times, but there have been no systemic corrections/action taken/intent by Mr Pradhan, indicating his gross incompetency as the Education Minister,” the CJP claims in its memorandum.
🚨#ImportantAnnouncement: @AshutoshRanka and I have been at J.P. Nadda’s residence since 12 noon. The demands have been conveyed, including immediate resignation/sacking of Dharmendra Pradhan.
The Minister assured us he will discuss this at the appropriate level. However, no… pic.twitter.com/vzLluczbkV
— Saurav Das (@SauravDassss) July 20, 2026
The CJP started an indefinite sit-in protest on 20 June, and were joined by educationist and environmentalist Sonam Wangchuk.
“In lieu of no response from the government, Mr Wangchuk started his hunger strike on 28th June, and has since then continued his strike as of July 20th, 1500 hours. Based on the above, and keeping in mind the call for a peaceful march to Parliament today, we request that our following demands be accepted immediately,” the CJP said, adding their demands point by point.
The CJP has demanded the release of Sonam Wangchuk, with no prohibition on his movements, the resignation/sacking of Dharmendra Pradhan, Rs 1 cr compensation to the family of each NEET aspirant who committed suicide following the NEET 2026 paper leak.
The CJP further requested Nadda that the Delhi Police should immediately stop using brute force on peaceful protesters, “as our demands are legitimate and in line with the aspirations of India’s youth.”
Union Minister Nadda said on X: “This morning, for the first time, a proposal came from the protesters to hold talks with the government, and our discussions have been ongoing since 11.50 am.”
“The meeting took place in a cordial atmosphere. An initial verbal discussion was held in detail with their delegation, and they submitted a written petition to me around 4 pm,” he said.
“I have requested all protesters to end their sit-in and assist the administration in restoring normalcy,” he added.
आज सुबह पहली बार प्रदर्शनकारियों की ओर से सरकार के साथ बातचीत करने का प्रस्ताव आया और सुबह 11:50 AM से ही हमारी बातचीत जारी है।
सौहार्दपूर्ण वातावरण में मुलाकात हुई। उनके डेलीगेशन के साथ विस्तार से पहले मौखिक चर्चा हुई और उनके द्वारा लगभग 4 बजे मुझे लिखित याचिका दी गई।
मैंने… pic.twitter.com/HLCl20RBSp
— Jagat Prakash Nadda (@JPNadda) July 20, 2026
(Edited by Viny Mishra)
Also read: Nadda assured he will speak to govt about our demands—CJP’s Saurav Das after meeting Union Minister