Students Force Education Minister’s Resignation, Says Manish Sisodia

When the NEET‑UG 2026 paper‑leak scandal broke, the reaction across campuses was anything but muted. Young people took to the streets – rain‑soaked, bruised by lathi‑charges – yet they kept marching, chanting for accountability.

Manish Sisodia, a senior figure in the Aam Aadmi Party, told ANI on Saturday that it wasn’t the minister who voluntarily handed in his resignation; it was the students themselves who "took" it. “Dharmendra Pradhan ji hasn’t simply sent his resignation; the children and students of this country have taken it,” he said, his tone a mix of admiration and frustration.

He didn’t stop there. Sisodia turned his gaze toward Prime Minister Narendra Modi, questioning why the government didn’t act sooner. “When the paper‑leak scandal erupted and 22 youngsters took their own lives, a responsible Prime Minister should have either accepted the resignation immediately or forced the minister to step down,” he argued, pointing to a missed window of decisive action.

The AAP leader painted the student movement as a watershed moment. “Our Gen‑Z has forced an arrogant Prime Minister to remove his corrupt Education Minister,” he declared, noting that the protests, even in sweltering humidity and relentless downpours, marked “the first step toward freedom from exam‑leak mafias.”

Pradhan, for his part, submitted a resignation letter to the Prime Minister, saying he was stepping down “in the larger interest of students” so they wouldn’t be “trapped in a web of confusion.” He reiterated his long‑standing involvement in education and pledged continued support for youth aspirations.

What Sisodia is really calling for, beyond the resignation, is a massive education revolution. He envisions a system where paper‑leak scams are relics of the past, where students aren’t forced to bear the brunt of administrative arrogance, and where reforms are driven by the very voices that protested.

Whether the government will heed this rallying cry remains to be seen, but the message is clear: the nation’s youth have shown they can, quite literally, take a minister’s resignation into their own hands.