India, July 25 -- Coming after pressure from the Cockroach Janta Party's massive protest and the Congress-led Opposition's sustained stance, Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation on Saturday marked a major departure from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's long-held approach of standing by ministers facing political pressure.

The resignation, once formally accepted, would become the first instance of a Union Cabinet-rank minister stepping down while explicitly taking responsibility for a major governance controversy during Modi's tenure of 12 years as PM so far.

In his public letter announcing his decision on Saturday, Pradhan, a senior BJP leader who's held ministerial posts since 2014, said he resigned to ensure that th...