"Doors Of Dialogue Open": Government Sources To Protesting Students

The government is keeping the doors of dialogue open with protesters, sources have told NDTV, shortly after Union Minister JP Nadda visited 
Lady Hardinge Hospital in the national capital to interact with protesters injured during Monday's protest.

There is no timeframe for talks, the sources said, adding that a call on further engagement will be taken based on circumstances. 

The protest came after activist Sonam Wangchuk was forcibly taken to hospital on Saturday, bringing an abrupt end to his 21-day hunger strike in support of the movement launched by the satirical Cockroach Janta Party, which is demanding the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over alleged NEET paper leak.

Yesterday, the protesters, mostly young students, converged on the Jantar Mantar protest site in the heart of New Delhi, in a show of force.

Delhi Police fired tear gas to stop thousands of protesters from marching to parliament. Dozens of protesters and police personnel were injured in the clashes, witnesses said.

As protests intensified on Monday, a delegation of the Cockroach Janata Party met Union JP Nadda over its demands. The Union minister appealed to the protesters to end their sit-in.

CJP chief spokesperson Saurav Das said they placed three demands before the Minister, including the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and compensation of Rs 1 crore to the families of the NEET aspirants, "more than 20 of whom have lost their lives".

The spokesperson said activist Sonam Wangchuk, who is in a hospital, should be "released immediately", adding that the protest will continue till Dharmendra Pradhan resigns.

Earlier today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for the strictest possible punishment for those responsible for the NEET paper leak and emphasised that preventing such paper leaks was a national responsibility, Minister Kiren Rijiju said quoting the Prime Minister.

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi called PM Modi the "most youth-hostile Prime Minister in India's history" and claimed that students demanding justice over the alleged NEET-UG 2026 paper leak were being met with "batons instead of answers."