Arjun Mody 🇮🇳

After Dharmendra Pradhan, what next for the CJP? A heated but substantive debate between CJP’s @whattalawyer & student protester VS. @Iyervval & @jai_a_dehadrai.

Why is the Opposition against the Exam Leak Bill? Because education reform isn’t its priority. It had decades in power to fix the system but didn’t. What it wants is regime change, not reform. That’s why the outrage inside Parliament is echoed by its smooth-talking defenders and sections of the media. But if you can’t win the people’s mandate, you’re not going to get regime change.

Looks like the triple bottom setup in HDFC Bank may finally be playing out. Awaiting reversal on this news 👇@dtbhat

Parliament and Legislative Assemblies cannot be held hostage by politicians, no matter which party they belong to. MPs and MLAs who repeatedly disrupt the House should face strict penalties—heavy fines, suspension, and even permanent disqualification for repeat offenders. Every day Parliament doesn’t function wastes hundreds of crores of taxpayers’ money. Yet there is almost no deterrent. If there are consequences for breaking laws outside Parliament, why should there be none for those who stop the country’s highest lawmaking bodies from functioning?

If your demand stops at the edge of convenience or loyalty, then it was never about accountability to begin with. Exposing those who demand transparency from others while shielding their own, on @News18India with @AmanChopra_:

Shehzad :DP resigned now how about Punjab Education Minister’s Istifa??? AAP Spokesperson : Punjab had no paper leaks 🤡🤡🤡 @ARanganathan72 got special mention here…

CJP’s biggest advantage was that it rallied around education—an issue that cuts across class, region and politics. Unlike many protests with a narrow base, this one had national resonance. Sonam Wangchuk’s hunger strike became the emotional turning point. His earlier fasts remained largely confined to Ladakh, but this time he was at the centre of a movement with nationwide appeal. As days passed without a visible government response, the narrative increasingly became one of an individual taking on the State, generating widespread public sympathy. The visuals from the march to Parliament further amplified that sentiment. Even people with no political affiliation found it difficult to stay indifferent, and debates over who was leading the movement became secondary to the issue itself. Whether or not the government ultimately conceded because of the protests, the episode underlines an important political lesson: mass movements succeed only when they combine a universally relatable issue, sustained public sympathy, and a compelling narrative. That is rare. You cannot manufacture those conditions every few months. For the government, this is a moment of political reckoning. Education has once again shown its ability to become an issue that transcends politics and captures the nation’s attention.

@TradeWithSandy Good to see you back buddy.

Universal cables

Dharmendra Pradhan Resigns !! Nobody expected the government to step back like this, but youth power made it happen! The sheer force of protesting students achieved what the political opposition couldn’t. Huge win for student unity.

The real problem isn’t just paper leaks. It’s that nearly 20 lakh students compete for only 64,000 government medical seats. This huge gap creates desperation, fuels paper leak rackets, leads to suicides, and triggers protests. Punishing a few people won’t end it. Fix the seat shortage, or the same cycle will keep repeating.

Crassness is the easiest way to go viral. When you have 30 seconds to grab attention, abuse beats arguments. The smart use wit. The lazy use vulgarity. It takes no knowledge, no logic, no articulation—just the ability to shock and dehumanize. That’s the new currency of social media.

@KartikeyaTanna Amazing metaphor. True in every sense

Because Modi has chosen to be so ubiquitous and so all-involving, he also risks facing the brunt when anything goes wrong anywhere in the country. Think of any ordinary Indian joint family home. Anything going wrong anywhere, everyone — children and grandparents, younger uncles and aunts — shout at the mom or dad. - Why did the geyser not work today? - Why is the roof leaking? - Why doesn’t the food have salt? - The AC was supposed to be fixed last month!! Because they choose to take on that role, they choose the burden of expectations too. Modi, by his sheer persona, has become that for the ordinary Indian. The frustration and anger of people on pretty much any issue is then projected towards him — just as joint family members project their anger at the mom or the dad. Taunts, sarcasm, attacks, screams. - Why is there so much unemployment? - Why is India still so dirty? Soon enough, most realize he truly means well, is doing his best and can make mistakes too. And they continue to bank on him until they acquire agency for their own future. Modi says Indians are his family. I now see why and how.

Ferrari’s having some unreal pace in Hungary in FP2. Race is going to be exciting @ajayrotti

@ContextMatters4 Same here. Filed it a month back, still under process.

Do you all started receiving IT Refunds? Last year, it was processed and came within 7 days of filing for my mom. This time no processing message nor refund came, even after 15 days of filing.

If there’s one article you should read today, it’s this. It cuts through the noise and explains the real causes of paper leaks, the ecosystem that profits from them, and the long-term reforms needed to end this menace for good. Highly recommended. Very well articulated @Amitbtnh

@KartikeyaTanna @RMantri Hi Kartikeya. But then even this is true

The reason why teenagers are so upset with exam leak (and the resulting cancellation) is because they have no idea what it was before the current system. It was a combination of blatant corruption, seats-for-sale, influence peddling and seriously low capacity of seats. It’s because they’ve spent most of their life after 2014 - after Modi became PM - that their baseline expectations are way, way higher than those of previous generations. It is Modi’s misfortune that they won’t ever realize that. Their parents can tell them all stories they want about the egregious Congress rule and they won’t care. This isn’t whataboutery at all. This is a glaring realization that there’s still some hope for change, for things to be better, because of who’s in power. Disappointment with Modi is bound to be there. But the other side of that coin is that, because there’s hope in him and his administration, there’s often disappointment when the reality doesn’t match the hopes. It’s 2026 and I’m still rooting for the man in the arena.

This gets to the heart of the issue. Young people don’t compare 2026 with governments they never lived under. They compare it with what they see today—and with the standards they see around the world every day on their phones. Very well summarized by @Hardism

@Hardism Loved this piece Hardik

Forget Sonam Wangchuk. Forget Abhijeet Dipke. Forget the CJP. Did the exam papers leak? Yes. Do they leak frequently? Yes. Did many students commit suicide? Yes. Do papers leak for other exams as well? Also yes. The Government seems to suggest that a successful re-exam was undertaken, and the criminals have been punished - so what’s the problem? The problem is that it doesn’t stop the next paper leak. Putting some low level criminals behind bars and throwing money at the families of the dead isn’t the permanent solution. How many senior administrators and bureaucrats have faced the wrath of the law in the last 10 years? It’s a post-facto reaction after the leaks have already taken lives. Exam paper leaks in India are not confined to one state, one government, or one type of exam. In fact, the situation is even worse in State exams. The attitude, by-and-large, seems to be, jaisa chal raha hai chalne do.. We’ll pick up a few people here and there, give away some money, do a re-exam and move on to the next cycle. Itna toh kiya, aur kya chahiye? But the students have gotten restless. They are fed up. You see it in TV interviews after every exam that gets cancelled at the last moment. Police recruitment. Teacher recruitment. State Govt recruitment. Again and again. Year after year. Too many students have all hopes pinned on these various exams. It is their ticket out of poverty, to make a life for themselves and their families. Why should they just “get on with it”? Another line of argument seems to be that there were more paper leaks in the Congress era. And that this government has done better than its predecessors. And so people need to be ‘sensible’ about this issue. Ok, but why should that be relevant to a 20-year old today? She didn’t live in the Congress era. She is living and studying in 2026. It is an argument that would perhaps resonate with millennials and older folks who have lived through both regimes. But the very young don’t have that old reference (and it’s a good thing) - they have the reference of social media. This is a social media native generation, they don’t consume traditional TV or news. Social media gives them access to what the world is like, right on their screen, 24X7. And they will increasingly ask - why can’t we have the good things that the world has? If Ethiopia can have decent roads, why can’t India? If Sri Lanka can be clean, why can’t India? If Vietnam can conduct exams well, why can’t India? And this restlessness expresses aspiration. To demand more. To want better. To want it quickly. Chalta Hai.. is not going to cut it anymore. Take the counterfactual - if there was no hue and cry, do you believe anything would change? There would be another paper leak somewhere in another month. Another series of suicides. Another round of compensation. It may very well happen even now, but the students have expressed their rage and fury- that it can’t be business as usual. “Chalta hai” is the defining attitude of India. Road after road after road has potholes.. but chal raha hai. Exam after exam after exam gets cancelled.. but chal raha hai. Kachra on every street, highway, station… but chal raha hai. Corruption in every other government service.. but chal raha hai. The young (thankfully) don’t carry the baggage of the past. The older you get, the more cynical you become - that this is how the system is, and how things will always work. But the young, with their (hopeful) naivety, at least have the ability to dream of a different tomorrow. In my early 20s, I wore the Anna cap and went around the area sloganeering with a bunch of other young people during the IAC movement. Nothing came out of it, and in hindsight I felt stupid for having supported any of those people. But the sentiment that it came out of - the frustration with rampant corruption - that was genuine. As I’m sure, the sentiment is genuine with thousands of students who have been part of these protests. I hope your movement has a more fruitful end than the one I supported. PS: Is this movement foreign funded? Are there other forces involved? I will let people with far more experience than me on security and intelligence matters to comment on that. But I will say this - the issue has been genuine, and it has resonance among the public. Grifters will always find a way to latch on to popular issues and try to hijack it. We must not lose sight of solving for the core sentiment.

Ideally, this is a conflict which should have been avoided. Airport operator running an airline. The entire competitor business depends on the airport operator!!

Stone pelting is often a sign that a protest is no longer just about its original cause. No student seeking genuine change gains anything by throwing stones. Those pushing violence want a police crackdown and chaos because it serves their agenda. They are encouraging young people to cross the line for someone else’s politics.