India's 'cockroach' movement says will launch protest if poll panel chief doesn't quit in 48 hours
“India's 'Cockroach' youth movement leaders said on Thursday that they would launch protests across the country if India's chief election officer does not resign in 48 hours, a day after a newspap…”
The. Indian Expressnewspaper said on Wednesday that two election commissioners had raised questions or expressed concern at least 14 times in 10 months, mostly in connection with the process of updating voters' lists that began last year, with Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
The Election Commission of India said that differences were normal in any institution and that all its actions were legal. In July, Indian youth protesters called off weeks of demonstrations and celebrated in the streets after the education minister quit and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government bowed to demands including calls to fix a cheating-prone exam system.
The worst political crisis of Modi's third term in office had peaked when thousands of protesters marched on parliament, with police using tear gas to control them.
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Youths calling themselves "cockroaches" had taken to the streets since late June, after national exam papers were leaked, forcing a resit which affected 2 million students and galvanised anger about the lack of prospects for young Indians.
The resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, the students' primary demand, came as a surprise because Modi has a reputation for refusing to act under pressure. Read:Actor Imran Khan, singer Arijit Singh join celebrities backing New Delhi student protests.
Modi's party faces key state elections next year. Similar youth-led protest movements brought down governments in neighbouring Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh in recent years. Celebrations erupted at the Jantar Mantar protest site in the capital Delhi, with thousands of youngsters chanting victory slogans and dancing.
The youth-led. Cockroach Janta Party(CJP) movement, which spearheaded the demonstrations, said it would end its protests. Roads around the central business district of Connaught Place near the protest site were shut amid celebrations and a swelling crowd of thousands of protesters.
Health Minister JP Nadda and Jitendra Singh, a junior minister in Modi's office, held a joint press conference with two CJP spokespersons after another round of talks following Pradhan's resignation.
Nadda said the government had accepted all demands of the protesters, which included reforms in the exam system, dropping police cases filed against protesters and compensating families of students who died by suicide after the exam paper leaks. "The Cockroach Janta Party declares that we withdraw the agitation in good faith," CJP spokesperson Saurav Das said.
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