The day was dominated by the Cockroach Janta Party's protest at Jantar Mantar, demanding Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation over exam paper leaks. After initial police denial, permission was granted early morning, and founder Abhijeet Dipke arrived from the airport to lead thousands. The protest, which drew Sonam Wangchuk and an eighth-grade student's emotional outburst, ended early with a five-day ultimatum for Pradhan's resignation.
Meanwhile, the TMC rebellion deepened: only 8 MLAs and 6 MPs attended Mamata Banerjee's meeting, and Sourav Ganguly denied asking Yusuf Pathan to resign his seat. In Karnataka, minister Ramalinga Reddy's WhatsApp resignation was withdrawn after Congress intervention.
Internationally, US-Iran tensions escalated with drone interceptions and radar strikes near the Strait of Hormuz, while Putin warned that sanctions threats against India would boomerang under PM Modi. India's T20I squad announcement saw Shreyas Iyer named captain and Suryakumar Yadav dropped.