An Amar Desh report said youth-led protests over a medical examination paper leak spread from Delhi across India, reportedly forcing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government to remove Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. The movement, led in Delhi by the Cockroach Janata Party, began after about 2 million students were required to retake examinations. The report said several students died by suicide, while protesters demanded Pradhan’s resignation and accountability in the examination system.

According to the report, Modi initially did not directly respond to protesters’ demands. In an Instagram video on Friday night, he thanked young people for their “constructive suggestions,” but protesters mocked the message online. Demonstrations intensified the following day, including at Jantar Mantar in Delhi, and spread to BJP-governed states. Youth-produced memes, videos and social-media campaigns challenged the government’s established online messaging, the report said.

Brown University professor Ashutosh Varshney said the government had no other option but to remove Pradhan. Congress and other opposition parties backed the movement, with Rahul Gandhi joining a student protest. The report linked youth anger to unemployment, limited jobs, stagnant wages and wider education-system problems, while organizers said the movement was only beginning.