Ahead of a planned third round of talks with India’s central government on Saturday, the protesting Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) said discussions would be meaningless unless the Modi government agreed to remove Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. In a Saturday morning post on X, CJP spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka said the party would not withdraw its demand for Pradhan’s resignation.

The second round of talks was held Friday at Constitution Club in New Delhi between CJP representatives and central ministers J. P. Nadda and Jitendra Singh. CJP presented three main demands: Pradhan’s resignation, assurance that protesting students would face no legal action, and compensation of one crore rupees each to families of students who died by suicide in the NEET paper leak case. The centre reportedly gave in-principle consent to the latter two demands.

Nadda said the meeting, lasting nearly two hours, also covered five proposals on examination reform, with the government due to communicate its final position at Saturday’s meeting. NDTV, citing government sources, reported that Pradhan’s resignation was unlikely. The government has announced fast-track courts, tougher penalties, a change of education secretary, dismissal of 47 National Testing Agency officials, and a commitment to fully restructure the agency.