NEW DELHI: Union health minister JP Nadda on Tuesday said discussions with a Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) delegation went off “fine”.Speaking briefly as he arrived for the NDA Parliamentary Party Meeting, ‘Mangal Milan’, Nadda said, “It was fine, it is always fine”.Nadda met CJP national spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka and chief spokesperson Saurav Das at his residence amid an intensifying protest that saw thousands of demonstrators attempt to march towards Parliament on Monday, demanding the resignation of Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the alleged NEET-UG 2026 paper leak.Das said the delegation raised three demands during the meeting, including the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan and compensation of Rs 1 crore to the families of the NEET aspirants, “more than 20 of whom have lost their lives”.He also said activist Sonam Wangchuk, who is currently in hospital, should be “released immediately”. Das added that the protest would continue until Dharmendra Pradhan resigns.Ashutosh Ranka also posted about the meeting, saying, “The demands have been conveyed, including immediate resignation/sacking of Dharmendra Pradhan,” he said.“The minister assured us he will discuss this at the appropriate level. However, no commitments have been made so far. The peaceful protesters will not rest until the demand is met!” he added.In a separate post on X, Nadda on Monday said it was the first time the protest organisers had themselves proposed talks with the government.“This morning, for the first time, a proposal came from the protesters to hold talks with the government, and our discussions have been ongoing since 11:50 AM. The meeting took place in a cordial atmosphere,” he said.“An initial verbal discussion was held in detail with their delegation, and they submitted a written petition to me around 4 PM. I have requested all the protesters to end their sit-in and assist the administration in restoring normalcy,” he added.According to Delhi Police, more than 118 police personnel, including senior officers of the ranks of special commissioner of police, joint commissioner of police, additional commissioner of police, deputy commissioner of police, additional deputy commissioner of police and assistant commissioner of police, as well as several women police personnel, were injured during the protest.Around 60 protesters were also reported injured during the scuffle.(With inputs from ANI)
