The crowds gathered at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar carrying books, flowers and cockroach masks. One banner read: “Waiting for exams that don’t leak.” Another declared: “Cockroaches are coming, Dharmendra Pradhan is going.” One protester carried a worn-out exam preparation guide. And Delhi Police personnel watched as drones hovered overhead.
The demonstration on June 11 marked the first major national mobilisation by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), which claims more than 2.3 crore followers across Instagram and X. What began as an online campaign around paper leaks is now attempting to test its mettle on the streets.
Founder Abhijeet Dipke travelled from the US to lead the protest carrying a photograph of B. R. Ambedkar. On stage, his remarks extended beyond educational reform to themes of Hindu-Muslim unity, hinting at ambitions that may eventually reach beyond examination issues. Climate activist and CJP supporter, Sonam Wangchuk, who also addressed the gathering, described India’s education system as having “collapsed” and called for peaceful resistance.
Among those live-streaming from Jantar Mantar was 21-year-old YouTuber Naman Sharma, broadcasting from behind police barricades as students and supporters gathered around him. “A number of us are here because we relate to the issues the CJP is raising,” says Sharma. “We know it isn’t a political party, but we support what it is doing for young people in this country.”
Also in the crowd was 19-year-old Sameeksha, who appeared for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) in 2025 and travelled from Bihar after persuading her family to let her attend the protest. “If I don’t fight for my rights, then who will?” she asks. Her younger sister is preparing for Class 12 board examination.
For a movement that exploded into prominence on social media, the turnout at Jantar Mantar remained relatively modest. Even so, it marked the CJP’s first significant test beyond the online space.
More than a Fad?
Supporters of the movement argue that many commentators are underestimating both its reach and its social composition. Among them is Anish Gawande, national spokesperson of the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar faction), who attended the protests in both Delhi and Pune. He believes the movement is drawing support from well beyond the stereotypical image of urban, middle-class students. “The Pune protest was far better organised and attracted a much larger turnout,” he says. “People from different castes, classes and social backgrounds were present. There were Dalit students, migrant workers and many others who saw their own concerns reflected in the issues being raised.”
Asked whether the CJP could follow a trajectory similar to the Anna Hazare movement, Gawande says early perceptions can often be misleading. “That movement too was once viewed as something driven by privileged sections,” he says. “Over time, it broke out of that perception and reached a much wider audience.” For Gawande, the movement’s appeal is rooted in a broader sense of public frustration. “A movement becomes successful when it transcends political and organisational boundaries and turns into a cause people identify with. I would not be surprised if Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Vijay turns up for the Chennai protest,” he adds.
Whether or not the CJP develops into a political organisation, it is influencing the political conversation.
Whether or not the CJP develops into a political organisation, it is already influencing the political conversation. The Congress has announced the first phase of a nationwide campaign centred on paper leaks, examination irregularities and unemployment, issues that also lie at the heart of the CJP’s messaging. The BJP, too, has stopped short of dismissing the movement outright, with party leaders acknowledging that students have a democratic right to protest.
For opposition parties seeking to reconnect with younger voters, Gawande argues, the issue brings together unemployment, educational anxiety and questions of governance in a way that could resonate across states.
The Numbers Problem
For a movement claiming more than 2.3 crore followers across social-media platforms, the turnout at Jantar Mantar was relatively moderate. Veteran psephologist Sanjay Kumar remains unconvinced that the movement can evolve into a nationwide force. “I do not see the ingredients for a countrywide mass movement at this stage,” he says. “Had that potential existed, we would likely have seen stronger mobilisation in places like Bihar.”
Kumar says that the movement faces a challenge of scale. Unlike corruption, which fuelled the Anna Hazare movement and people affected across social and economic categories, examination-related grievances are more narrowly concentrated. Paper leaks and recruitment delays affect millions of young Indians, but primarily those directly connected to the examination system. “The issue resonates strongly with students and aspirants, but it does not have the same universal reach as corruption once did,” says Kumar. He is equally sceptical of comparisons with youth-led upheavals in Bangladesh, Nepal or Sri Lanka. “India is simply too large and too diverse for such comparisons to hold. Protests may occur, but the social and political contexts are very different.”
Can CJP Outgrow Social Media?
Political analyst Manish Anand, founder of The Raisina Hills, an online media outlet, argues that movements may begin online, but lasting political influence requires structures capable of surviving beyond moments of viral attention. Kumar agrees. “If a movement has the potential to grow into something significant, it needs a formal organisational framework,” he says.
Follower counts and viral content cannot substitute for political infrastructure, Kumar says. “Tamil Nadu may provide a model where a new force can emerge, and some states could witness similar developments,” he says. “But India’s diversity and deeply entrenched party system make a national experiment of this kind extremely difficult.”
Anand notes that the circumstances that transformed the Anna Hazare campaign into a mass movement are largely absent today. The anti-corruption agitation drew strength from successive corruption revelations that created a strong anti-incumbency sentiment. He believes there is no comparable issue at present capable of generating the same level of public mobilisation. “Much of the media discourse continues to focus on the achievements of the Narendra Modi government rather than on allegations of wrongdoing, making it harder for a broad anti-incumbency narrative to take shape,” he says.
Anand points to Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam in Tamil Nadu as one recent example of a new political force gaining traction. But he believes the CJP lacks both a nationally recognised leader and the grassroots organisation needed to build a sustained presence on the ground. At present, he says, the Congress remains the only opposition party with a truly nationwide organisational network.
MORE FROM THIS ISSUE
On June 20, the CJP plans to hold an indefinite sit-in at Jantar Mantar if Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan does not resign. Whether it marks another protest or the beginning of something with a longer political life remains to be seen.
