CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI ■ ■ MANGALURU l sunday l july 26, 2026 l `12.00 l PAGES 24 l CITY EDITION Union MoS Jitendra Singh, minister J P Nadda and CJP spokespersons Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka after the third round of talks on Saturday evening | PTI Mantri Pradhan out in Gen Z debut rajesh kumar thakur @ New Delhi WITH THIS ISSUE Southern Storm PLUS 12 P AGES BJP heavyweight Dharmendra Pradhan, who held on as Union education minister for 1,845 days, was brought down in the end not by an election or a scandal probe, but by a satire party named after a cockroach, coupled with a paper leak he couldn’t wriggle away. The education minister resigned on Saturday citing moral responsibility, after over a month of nationwide protests spearheaded by the CJP and triggered by the alleged NEET-UG paper leak and examination irregularities. In an open letter addressed to the youth, Pradhan said he was stepping down to protect the aspirations of India’s young people and prevent anti-national forces from exploiting the situation. “India’s Yuva-Shakti is the real power of the country ,” he said in his two-page resignation letter made public on X. He said the developments of the past 10 days had “saddened” him deeply and that the issue was “not a matter of personal prestige”. Noting that he did not want “anti-national forces” to exploit the situation, Pradhan said he wanted students to devote their time to studies and building their careers. Until late Friday evening, the government appeared to be in denial over his resignation. Howeve r, d eve l o p m e n t s leading to his departure followed a reported meeting between home minister Amit Shah and PM Narendra Modi. With the agitation gathering momentum and spreading across the country, the government reportedly decided there was no option than to seek his resignation. According to sources, Pradhan submitted his resignation to the PM on Saturday mor ning, on his own and shared it on social media in the afternoon.  P7 No action will be taken against the organisers and protesters. Govt assured families of students who lost their lives of the highest possible compensation J P Nadda, Health minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation is a huge step towards reshaping our education system. Well done to students Rahul Gandhi, LoP A victory of democracy, direct democracy from the streets ... congratulations CJP, Gen Z of the nation and thank you all citizens for shedding fear Sonam Wangchuk V V e l ay u d h a m @ Kolar Chief Minister DK Shivakumar and Deputy Chief Minister Dr G Parameshwara inspect sunflower crop that withered due to lack of rain in a Yaraballi field in Hiriyur taluk of Chitradurga district on Saturday. RDPR Minister Eshwar Khandre also accompanied them | Express | P4 e x p r ess r e a d India crush Zimbabwe by 90 runs in 2nd T20I Harare: An all-round India crushed Zimbabwe by 90 runs in the second T20I to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series, here on Saturday. The third and final T20I will be played here on Sunday. Chasing 220, Zimbabwe were off to a strong start courtesy Brian Bennett, who struck 32 off 19 balls with three sixes and as many fours. But the hosts lost wickets in a clusters to finish at 129 in 17.5 overs. Earlier, half-centuries from Ishan Kishan (81) and Tilak Varma (60 not out) fired India to a huge 219/5. Kishan and Tilak also put on 94 runs for the fourth wicket which took India past the 200-run mark | P11 A woman who had taken an education loan for her children’s higher studies finally conceded defeat under severe financial strain and ended her life. She, along with her 22-year-old commerce graduate daughter and 19-year-old son, died by suicide by jumping into an agricultural tank at Chatrakodi Halli in Kolar. Kolar Superintendent of Police Kanika Sikriwal said the deceased were identified as Prameela BV (40), her daughter, Swapna (22), and son, Ramcharan (19), who has completed his PUC. The SP said her husband, Suresh N, an autorickshaw driver, had availed a loan of Rs 10 lakh while Prameela had taken a loan of Rs 5 lakh from self-help-groups and private financiers. Swapna had ambitions to pursue post-graduation while Ramcharan was awaiting admission for an undergraduate programme in a private college in Chikballapur. Police say Prameela did not succeed in securing financial help for Ramcharan’s admission and in desperation she and children committed suicide. The bodies of the deceased were handed over to relatives after postmortem, said the SP . Prameela BV Swapna Ramcharan a l l i n the n a m e Juggling complexities, Jhandu lifts dream I n d r a n e e l d a s @ Chennai Jhandu is not a common name. It has an uncanny resemblance with one of the most iconic pain-relief retro brands – Zandu balm and its popular ad run on DD years ago. Nor has it to do with Xanadu — considered the idyllic capital of Kubla Khan. There is a very interesting anecdote behind it, which Jhandu Kumar himself narrated from Glasgow. In fact, his story is a poignant reminder of India’s hinterland and its travails. Born in a vegetable vendor family money , was always considered a novelty something extra-terrestri, al. Earnings were meager and at the age of just five, Jhandu, who is 29 now, was afflicted with polio. Life went downhill as his family spent their entire fortune (however meager it was) on him. But Jhandu fondly recollected the days as a child and the hardship his family had to endure. “I was five years old when polio struck me,” he told this daily on Saturday a day after a glittering Friday when he won his first Commonwealth Games medal, a bronze. There was a tinge of tragiccomic narrative to his recent stardom. “My father spent all the money on me and because of which we went bankrupt. Isiliye unlo go m e r a naam Jhandu rakha, log bolne laga jhandu ho gaya (that’s why they call be Jhandu),” he said with a chuckle. The medal he hoped would change his fortunes. For someone who started para sport four years ago this is indeed creditable. Sabnahua Dih near Harnaut in Nalanda district is just a speck on the map. A nondescript village will slowly get into some kind of prominence on the sporting map through Jhandu. Juggling complexities of life has been his forte but after the bronze on Friday, he is expecting better days.  P11 E x p r e s s N e w s S e r vi c e @ New Delhi Cockroach Janta Party protesters celebrate after the Centre accepted their demands on Saturday | PTI No money for higher studies, woman and her 2 children end lives in Kolar shadow of drought RAF chief raps personnel over excessive force India win 2nd medal Though there were seven paralifters at the Glasgow Games out of which Jhandu Kumar returned with a medal by accummulating 130.9 points. Ashok finished fourth and missed out on a medal. Pugilist Lovlina Borgohain assured India their first medal when she got a bye until the medal round Peace out for CJP protesters i f r a h m u f t i @ New Delhi AFTER 36 days of continuous protest at Jantar Mantar, the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) on Saturday called off its protest “with immediate effect” and asked supporters at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar to return home. The announcement came in a joint Centre-CJP press conference in the evening, following the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan as Union education minister. His resignation was the CJP’s central demand over the NEET paper leak. CJP chief spokesperson Saurav Das said the agitation was being withdrawn in ‘good faith and understanding that the agreed upon terms will be executed within the agreed upon timelines’. With one demand already met, the group’s spokespersons said the government assured them that police cases filed against student-protesters would be withdrawn, no action would be taken against them in future, and maximum compensation would be given to families of students who died by suicide over the NEET-UG paper leak. The chief of the Rapid Action Force (RAF) has pulled up field commanders and personnel of the force over the alleged use of excessive force against protesters during the “Sansad Chalo” march on July 20. During the virtual review meeting held on Wednesday, amid mounting criticism of the force’s handling of the Jantar Mantar protest, the RAF’s top leadership told officers and personnel that the force used during the July 20 march did not conform to the RAF’s prescribed crowd-control protocols and stressed that force must always be applied in a graded and proportionate manner. According to sources, all personnel were instructed to strictly follow the ‘Use of Force’ guidelines.