‘We have bloody done it…(but) don’t make me a hero’: Dipke celebrates CJP’s victory

In meetings with government Ministers J P Nadda and Jitendra Singh after protesters were beaten and teargassed on July 20, the CJP remained firm on Pradhan’s resignation, along with a compensation of Rs 1 crore each for the families of students who had died by suicide after the May 3 NEET-UG question paper was leaked and subsequently cancelled, and the dropping of police cases against the protesters.

CJP protestors celebrate after the resignation of Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan at the protest site on Parliament Street in New Delhi on Saturday. (Express Photo by Tashi Tobgyal)

In an open letter to the youth that he posted on X on Saturday afternoon, Pradhan announced that he had sent his resignation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

pic.twitter.com/VSArqS98OJ

— Dharmendra Pradhan (@dpradhanbjp) July 25, 2026

Minutes later, Dipke celebrated the fact that the CJP had forced the government – which has the reputation of not buckling under pressure – tp bend.

“What did they say? There are no resignations in this government,” Dipke told the rapidly swelling crowd. “For 36 days, every day, they asked me this question. There won’t be a resignation. Will there be a resignation? These people (the government) won’t resign. Everyone told me.”

Pradhan’s resignation demonstrated the power of a united youth movement, Dipke said. “The world bows down, but someone is needed to make it bow,” he said. The protest, he said had secured “justice” for students who had died by suicide amid the stress and anxiety of the NEET-UG controversy.

Listing the names of several student NEET aspirants who died by suicide allegedly due to exam-related grievances, Dipke said: “These are the children who have received justice today.”

At this stage, Dipke declared that the protest would continue until the CJP’s other two demands were also met. Pradhan’s resignation was only “the first wicket” to fall – “We won’t stop here. This is just the beginning,” he said.

However, later in the evening, following a third round of talks between Nadda and Singh and CJP representatives Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, the CJP announced that all its demands had been accepted, and that it was “withdrawing its nationwide agitation with immediate effect”.

Addressing the protesters who had remained at Jantar Mantar through the 36-day agitation, Dipke said attempts to break their resolve had failed.

“They were sitting in the rain. The police cut off the water supply, still you sat. They closed the police station, still you sat. They made many attempts to break your courage. But your courage can’t be broken,” he said.

Dipke asked supporters not to view the success of the movement as his personal victory. It is always a “mistake” to make any one person a “hero”, he said.

“I want to say something very important. Don’t make me a hero because Dharmendra Pradhan has resigned today. Don’t make this mistake. Don’t make me a hero because of Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation. The country has been ruined because one person has been made a hero,” Dipke said.

The focus, he said, should remain firmly on the systemic issues facing students, transparency in the examination system, and the broader demands of the nationwide movement rather than individual figures.

Dipke also underlined the way in which the protest movement had brought together youth belonging to different religious communities around issues such as education, employment, and their future.

“When Hindus and Muslims rise above politics, when we talk about issues, then the nation will do well,” he said, as protesters raised slogans rejecting what he described as “Hindu-Muslim politics”.

“This country’s youth will talk about education. This country’s youth will talk about the future. [They] will talk about employment,” Dipke said.

The success of the agitation had disproved all those who had argued that the government could not be forced to act, he said.

“Many people said, ‘Do you think you will go to India? Will a revolution come to India?’ It has come,” he said.

“The youth of this country have shown that if they come together, they can make anyone bow,” Dipke said.