IndianRepublic.in

On Saturday, Dharmendra Pradhan resigned as India's Education Minister after street protests, hunger strikes, violence and tear gas on Sansad Marg, and the physical removal of the Leader of the Opposition from a sit-in outside the Prime Minister's residence. The government called it even. The students called it a victory.  Representational Image: LoP Rahul Gandhi meeting Speaker Om Birla; Via: @INCIndia on X But o n Monday morning, Pradhan walked into Parliament and BJP and NDA MPs received him at the Makar Dwar, draped a shawl around his shoulders, placed a traditional cap on his head, and chanted "Dharmendra Pradhan zindabad." The man who had just resigned under the weight of a nationwide protest was being welcomed back, as Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi would put it the following day on the floor of Lok Sabha, "as if he had returned after fighting a war with Pakistan." That image of the garlands, the slogans and the ceremony is the government's actual m...

India on Sunday observed the 27th Kargil Vijay Diwas, paying tribute to the 527 soldiers who laid down their lives during the 1999 Kargil War, with the principal ceremony held at the Kargil War Memorial in Dras, Ladakh. Via: @rajnathsingh on X Defence Minister Rajnath Singh led the commemorations at Dras, laying a wreath at the memorial and flagging off the culmination of the Shaurya Vijay Yatra, a 1,900-kilometre motorcycle journey from New Delhi to Dras undertaken as part of this year's observance. Chief of Army Staff General Dhiraj Seth and senior military officers were also present at the memorial. President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tributes separately, with Modi saying the occasion "serves as a reminder of the unparalleled courage and valour of those brave soldiers who dedicated their lives to protecting the nation's pride." Rajnath Singh, addressing the gathering at Dras, warned Pakistan against future misadventures, saying that ...

The Indian government has named Pralhad Joshi as the country's new Education Minister after President Droupadi Murmu formally accepted Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation . By nightfall, the Cockroach Janta Party had called off its agitation at Jantar Mantar, most of the prevailing security had been withdrawn from the protest site, and the Delhi Metro stations that were shuttered for three consecutive days reopened to the public. Pralhad Joshi has taken charge as the union Education Minister. Via: @JoshiPralhad on X The government accepted all three of CJP's non-negotiable demands: Pradhan's resignation, the withdrawal of FIRs filed against protesters, and a commitment to compensation for students affected by the NEET-UG paper leak. A follow-up round of talks between the government and CJP is scheduled in the coming weeks. Joshi, a five-time Member of Parliament from Karnataka's Dharwad constituency and a senior BJP leader, will hold the Education portfolio as an addit...

India's Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan submitted his resignation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday. This marks the most significant political casualty of the student-led protest movement that has gripped the country for weeks. The resignation, which was the central demand of the Cockroach Janta Party since its founding, was submitted by letter.  File Photo Via: @dpradhanbjp Pradhan, who has served as Education Minister since July 2021, said in a statement posted on X: "The situation that has arisen at Jantar Mantar and in the country — anti-national forces should not take advantage of this situation. The unity of the country should be maintained. The future of even a single student of India should not get entangled in legal complications. Our children should spend their time in studies, focusing on building a career. Keeping this in mind, I have sent my resignation to the Honourable Prime Minister." (translation of the original Hindi letter) pic.t...

Delhi Police physically lifted and detained Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in Indian parliament's Lok Sabha , from a sit-in protest outside Prime Minister Narendra Modi 's official residence, as a crisis over irregularities in the country's national entrance examinations escalated into the most serious confrontation between the government and its opponents in years. Image Via: @RahulGandhi on X Rahul Gandhi, his sister and fellow Member of Parliament Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav were removed from the protest site at 7 Lok Kalyan Marg by Delhi Police and the Rapid Police Force after they refused to vacate. Officers were photographed and filmed carrying Rahul Gandhi bodily before placing him in a police vehicle. Reports confirmed by multiple outlets stated that the officers who detained the parliamentarians were not wearing nameboards on their uniforms. Gaand faad edit 🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/NzLFhz7aTY — gulvinder (@rebelliousdo...

✍️ Written by Saket Suman Thousands of young Indians marched from Jantar Mantar toward Parliament in monsoon rain and were met with tear gas, lathi charges, internet shutdowns, and mass detentions. Abhijeet Dipke, the founder of the Cockroach Janta Party, was detained. Sonam Wangchuk, on the twenty-second day of a hunger strike that had already cost him at least 8.5 kilograms, wrote a handwritten note from his hospital bed requesting temporary release to join the march. The request was not granted. Image Via: @Cockroachisback on X The Education Minister did not resign. The Monsoon Session opened on schedule. The government held.  And yet something has happened today in Delhi that cannot be managed away with a press briefing. How We Got Here What began on May 15 as a Supreme Court judge's offhand comparison of unemployed youth to "cockroaches" became, within six weeks, one of the most significant youth mobilisations in India since the...

✍️ Written by Saket Suman I have been a journalist for most of my adult life and this country has become my beat, my burden and perhaps my greatest blessing. This journey has led me to cover India from its plains and its hills, from the coaching centres and the press conferences, from literary festivals, from the front lines of protests to the inside and outside of its policy corridors. I have watched promises made at election rallies dissolve in the unforgiving heat of governance. I have seen individuals become symbols and symbols become power and power become something so sinister that I will leave it unnamed here. I write of these things to establish a vantage point as essential context because what follows is written from the inside, from the ground, with the accumulated scepticism of someone who has seen some bit of this republic to resist, on this particular day, both the celebration and the denunciation that today's milestone will produ...

✍️ Written by Saket Suman Hundreds of young people gathered at Jantar Mantar in cockroach masks, carrying flowers they planned to offer to policemen as a gesture of compassion and gratitude. They were there, their organisers said, to demand the resignation of the Education Minister. Image from Jantar Mantar Protest; Via: @Cockroachisback on X How the Cockroach Was Born On May 15, 2026, Chief Justice of India Surya Kant — the custodian of the Constitution, the guardian of the rights of every citizen including the most wretched — sat in open court and said that there are youngsters like cockroaches, who don't get any employment or have any place in the profession. Some of them become media, some of them become social media, RTI activists, and other activists, and they start attacking everyone. He later said he was misquoted. The internet did not agree and did not move on. Within twenty-four hours, Abhijeet Dipke, a thirty-year-old political ...

India has activated a coordinated, multi-ministerial response to manage the domestic and overseas impact of escalating tensions in West Asia, with authorities outlining measures to secure energy supplies, safeguard Indian nationals and maintain continuity of key economic and rural welfare programmes. Representational Image/File Photo Via: Indian Nav y At the latest high-level inter-ministerial briefing in New Delhi, officials from the ministries of petroleum, external affairs, shipping and rural development detailed steps to mitigate risks arising from disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz, global commodity volatility and regional instability. The government said fuel supply across the country remains stable despite geopolitical pressures, with 100% supply being maintained for domestic LPG, PNG and CNG. Online LPG bookings have reached 99%, while delivery authentication compliance has risen to around 92% to prevent diversion. Public sector oil companies have conducted over 7,000 awarene...

India and South Korea on Monday agreed to significantly expand their bilateral partnership across trade, technology, defence-adjacent sectors and the Indo-Pacific, setting an ambitious target to more than double trade to $50 billion by 2030 while launching new institutional mechanisms to deepen economic and strategic cooperation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung; Via: MEA India The agreements were announced following talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung during the latter’s state visit to India — the first such visit in eight years — where both sides outlined a transition from an existing strategic partnership to what was described as a more “futuristic” and comprehensive framework. At the core of the outcomes is a broad-based push spanning semiconductors, shipbuilding, artificial intelligence, energy security and supply chains, alongside the launch of an India–Korea Digital Bridge to drive collaboration...