“What Does New Generation Know?” Pawan Kalyan On Abuses Against PM Modi
Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan was standing there after the big airport inauguration. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was present. The place was packed. And out of nowhere, Pawan started talking about the ugly things that were said against Modi during those protests at Jantar Mantar in Delhi. He didn’t sugarcoat it. He said when he heard those abuses — the really personal ones, the ones that even dragged in Modi’s late mother — tears came to his eyes. He just said it straight. “The more you work, the more you get criticised… what does the new generation know? The struggles he went through.” That line hit hard. He was asking, basically — do these young people even understand what this man has been carrying? Modi hasn’t taken a single day off since he became Prime Minister. Not one. He’s dealing with pressure from outside the country, countries that don’t like how fast India is rising, and at the same time fighting people inside who keep trying to pull everything backwards. And still he keeps going. Pawan used that old saying — only a fruit-bearing tree gets stones thrown at it. The more you give, the more people attack you. He’s used to attacks himself after entering politics, he said. But watching the country’s Prime Minister get called those names, especially by young people, that still hurt him badly. Then he made it personal. He told the crowd that when someone speaks against Modi, it feels like they’re speaking against all of them. “We stand firmly with you,” he said. He went further — no leader in this country can touch Modi, and none is going to come who can. Leading a country, he said, is like carrying Lord Rama’s mission. The rest of us should think about what we can do as Hanuman for him. He didn’t just stop at emotions. He connected it to the airport they had just opened. Bhogapuram used to be a place people joked about — even a red bus wouldn’t come here. Now there’s a proper international airport. Thousands of crores of investment. He said this is what happens when you stand with a leader like Modi and work with the alliance. North Andhra getting airports, money flowing into the state — this is the result. And then he turned to parents. Especially those with kids under 25. He asked them to teach their children proper values, discipline, some sense of the country. Books alone are not enough. The young ones who used those filthy words need guidance more than punishment. He praised Modi for choosing to forgive them instead of dragging them to court. That, he said, shows real character. He even said he bows at the feet of a Prime Minister who can forgive like that. It wasn’t a polished speech. It felt like a man who was genuinely disturbed by what he saw and heard. Some will say it’s just alliance loyalty. Others will feel he spoke from the heart. Either way, on that afternoon in Bhogapuram, Pawan Kalyan made it clear where he stands. He asked people for one simple promise — when words are thrown at Modi, treat those words as if they were thrown at you. Stand with the man who is carrying the weight of 140 crore people every single day without rest. Sources: Reports from NDTV, Republic World, Outlook India, Gulte, and PTI covering the Bhogapuram airport event and Pawan Kalyan’s speech on 1–2 August 2026. @Rohit Manral
Dharmendra Pradhan Steps Down as Education Minister After Weeks of Student Protests at Jantar Mantar; Centre Moves to Clear the Site
On Saturday in Delhi. After more than a month of students camping out at Jantar Mantar under the banner of the Cockroach Janta Party, or CJP as everyone has started calling them, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan announced his resignation. And almost right after that, the government began taking steps to clear the protest site that had become the centre of the whole storm. It all started with the NEET-UG paper leaks and the long list of anomalies that followed. The CJP, led by Abhijeet Dipke, turned that furious into a continual sit-in at Jantar Mantar starting around mid-June. What began with a few dozen people grew into thousands. They stayed through the heat, through police action, through rounds of talks with the Centre. Their main demand was simple and stubborn: Pradhan must go. By Friday, after a second meeting at the Constitution Club, the government asked for one more day. The students said they would wait till Saturday afternoon. Then, earlier than anticipate, Pradhan posted on X. He said he was taking moral responsibility. He wrote that he did not want the protests to be used by what he called anti-national forces, and that students should be able to get back to their studies without getting stuck in legal cases or endless perturbation. The President accepted the resignation the same day on the counsel of the Prime Minister. Within hours, Union Minister Pralhad Joshi was given additional charge of the Education Ministry. Dipke told the crowd it was their first big breakthrough, though he made it clear the movement was not over. Later in the day, the CJP said they were calling off the protest “in good faith.” They had secured a few other things too — talk of compensation for families of students who died by suicide, and a promise that FIRs against protesters would be looked at. Activist Sonam Wangchuk, who had been on a hunger strike in support, also ended it. Now the Centre is moving to clear Jantar Mantar. Police presence increased after the resignation announcement. There had already been tear gas earlier in the day when things got tense before the news broke. Officials want the site back to normal as quickly as possible. For the students who spent weeks living there, it feels like a rare moment when the government actually blinked. For the government, it is a way to close a chapter that was becoming politically costly and starting to spread beyond Delhi. Walking around Jantar Mantar in the days leading up to this, you could feel how personal it had become. Kids from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra — many of them first-generation students aiming for medical seats — talked about the money their parents had spent on coaching, the pressure, the feeling that one leaked paper could destroy years of work. The “cockroach” name itself started as an insult and was turned into a badge. The government, for its part, had been trying to manage the situation carefully. Talks happened, some concessions were offered, but the resignation demand stayed non-negotiable for the students. Giving Pradhan the exit and handing the portfolio to Joshi looks like an attempt to reset the conversation. Joshi is a senior leader with experience in organisation work. Whether that translates into faster reforms in the testing system is something everyone will be watching. In the end, what happened on 25 July feels like one of those moments when street pressure actually forced a ministerial change in a system that usually moves very slowly. The students are packing up, the tents will come down, and Jantar Mantar will go back to being the usual protest ground for other issues. But the questions they raised about fairness in education will not disappear with them. Sources: The Hindu, BBC News, Al Jazeera, NDTV, Hindustan Times, Indian Express, NPR, reports from July 25, 2026. @Rohit Manral