The NDA government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has probably tasted its first non-electoral defeat in the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, having brazened out previous attempts to seek accountability from it by citing a string of electoral victories.
Pradhan’s resignation was a non-negotiable demand made by protesters at Jantar Mantar over the NEET paper leak issue. What seems to have forced the government’s hand was the swelling ranks of protesters across the country, responding to a call issued by the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP), and treating the movement as a matter of conscience.
The government believed that Sonam Wangchuk’s decision to call off his hunger strike would ease pressure on it and probably weaken the agitation that has made headlines across the world for its sheer scale. The forcible eviction of Wangchuk, followed by the alleged use of force, including pellet guns, on young protesters, boomeranged on the government. Wangchuk’s decision to call off his hunger strike didn’t change the mood on the ground as protesters returned despite the use of force and elaborate security arrangements.
The Modi government rolled back farm laws in its second term after refusing to yield to even more intense protests that lasted for more than a year. But those protests had a limited geographical scope, unlike the current round of unrest stemming from the trauma faced by lakhs of youngsters and their parents.
Why the Government Misread the CJP Movement
The government seemed to have believed that the initial response to the CJP mobilisation would die down once the novelty over the name waned. The protesters included a lot of unemployed youngsters who stayed put in Delhi, their profile different from previous protests like those over the citizenship law. The anti-CAA protests were identified with Muslims. The longer they lasted, the more the government benefited because social media was on its side.
This time, social media was divided, with content suiting both sides doing the rounds. The highly objectionable language used by some protesters, including young girls, without thinking about consequences was entirely avoidable. There were highly creative posters too.
How Gen Z Forced Modi’s First Major Political Climbdown
The protests took the limelight away from recent political victories, registered both in the electoral arena and outside. Counter-protests by the BJP to denounce Rahul Gandhi’s dharna outside the Prime Minister’s residence didn’t enthuse cadres, as the cause wasn’t appealing enough.
And yet the NDA leadership was not willing to address the main demand: the removal of the education minister to fix accountability. The prime minister didn’t want to be seen as weak-kneed by cracking the whip on the education minister and setting a precedent. BJP spokespersons compared the demand for resignation to blackmail.
They insisted the actual perpetrators were behind bars and pointed to the government’s decision to set up fast-track courts and enact a stringent law as sincere efforts to deal with the education mafia. Their stand was clear: Pradhan was not directly involved in the leak and that the demand for his removal was political.
When Youth Anger Became Too Big to Ignore
There’s no denying the fact that the Opposition sensed an opportunity in the CJP’s insistence on Pradhan’s expulsion. What worked eventually was not pressure by established political parties but the relentless mobilization by a digital phenomenon, aided to a large extent by a huge army of unemployed youth.
Most protesters never appeared for the NEET examination held in May, and are unlikely to appear in future examinations, but they identified with the cause, their anger fuelled and sustained by lack of jobs and opportunities.
Former Union Minister of State for External Affairs M J Akbar was forced to resign in the first term of the Modi government. The famous journalist had stepped down because several women had accused him of inappropriate conduct in his personal life.
Pradhan’s resignation resulted from the disenchantment of youngsters, one of the key constituencies which trusted the prime minister for what they thought was his decisive leadership. CJP leaders were very clear in their demand. From the protest site, they announced that if Pradhan was not ready to resign, the PM should.
Only time will tell how the Gen Z movement will play out in future. The government was caught on the wrong foot and will have to tread cautiously because the movement has claimed its first victim. “If you are fearless, you can make the government fall in line,’’ said CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke immediately after Pradhan’s resignation.
