Bhubaneswar, July 25 -- Biju Janata Dal (BJD) president and Leader of Opposition in Odisha, Naveen Patnaik, on Saturday lauded the youth after Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned owing to widespread student-led protests across the nation over the NEET paper leak.

In a video posted on social media, Naveen Patnaik said, "Gen Z, I'm proud of all of you. You are indeed the strength of our democracy."

Dharmendra Pradhan resigned as the education minister following over a month-long protest, especially led by Cockroach Janata Party at Jantar Mantar along with a 26-day-long hunger strike by activist Sonam Wangchuk.

Pradhan submitted his resignation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying that he wanted to ensure that the prot...