India’s ‘cockroach’ protests: a rare political opening for the opposition?

India’s student-led “cockroach” protests, which began as anger over alleged entrance exam leaks, are now becoming a broader test of whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government can contain young Indians’ frustration over education, jobs and accountability. The fast-growing movement gained political momentum on Tuesday when opposition leader Rahul Gandhi of the Congress party and his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were forcibly removed after a gathering with about 100 fellow lawmakers outside Modi’s residence to condemn the use of force against student protesters. Analysts say the protests have exposed a rare opening for the opposition: a youth grievance that cuts across party lines, speaks directly to middle-class anxieties over opportunity and fairness and puts pressure on a ruling party more used to setting the political agenda. The intervention by opposition politicians followed clashes in central Delhi on Monday, when thousands of protesters tried to march towards parliament to demand the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. Delhi police said nearly 180 people were injured, including 60 protesters and 118 police and security personnel. By then, prominent activist Sonam Wangchuk had already been hospitalised on Saturday after a three-week hunger strike over demands for education reform, which added national visibility to a protest movement driven largely by students. The protests, led by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), started following allegations of question paper leaks for the National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET), one of India’s most competitive exams for aspiring doctors. The exam was scrapped in May before a retest was conducted late last month. However, students argue that localised or internal paper leaks – as well as problems at exam centres – point to a fundamentally broken system that needs to be overhauled. The NEET controversy came on top of another row related to the online marking system for tests taken by nearly 2 million high school students, many of whom alleged they received incorrect grades or results meant for other candidates. The controversy has struck a chord with sections of India’s middle class because these exams are primary gateways to upward social mobility, offering access to premier government institutions that provide high-quality education and often lead to job placements. Modi called the NEET paper leak a “grave sin” and assured strict action against those responsible, while also urging ruling coalition lawmakers at a meeting on Tuesday to treat the issue as a shared responsibility, according to Kiren Rijiju, the parliamentary affairs minister. India’s Central Bureau of Investigation has been investigating the NEET paper leak and arrested multiple private individuals, including coaching centre owners. It says there is no evidence connecting government officials to the leaks. On Tuesday, Pradhan accused Gandhi of exploiting students politically and causing inconvenience by staging a protest outside Modi’s residence, saying Congress chose spectacle over finding solutions, and pledged to ensure accountability. “There is genuine anguish among students about the paper leaks. There are a lot of issues piling up one after the other,” said Yashwant Deshmukh, an independent political commentator and founder of research firm C-Voter. He said a survey conducted by his firm in June revealed that 66 per cent of the 1,500 respondents polled were in favour of Pradhan’s resignation. The escalating student protests showed a degree of disconnect with young people by both ruling and opposition parties to deal with the issue urgently, he said. According to Deshmukh, the overwhelming political dominance of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in India – where it leads the ruling federal coalition and holds power in 17 out of 28 states – may have lulled officials into a sense of complacency over the issue. However, Congress was not able to fully channel the public rage into political gains, he added. “Congress has been in and out of the issue when they should have exploited the situation to the hilt but they have been unable to,” said Deshmukh, referring to the absence of top party leaders from “cockroach protest” sites in the Indian capital’s heart in Jantar Mantar. The CJP is not aligned with any traditional political group. However, because its core mission involves demanding systemic education reforms and government accountability, it functions as a highly political protest. Political repercussions Deshmukh said Congress’ failure to be fully in sync with the movement highlighted Gandhi’s “half-hearted approach” and a missed opportunity to connect with India’s Generation Z who could be vital to challenging the BJP juggernaut. The rapidly expanding CJP has gained millions of social media followers since its launch in May. The movement was founded by Abhijit Dipke, a US university graduate, in response to controversial comments made by a court judge who allegedly referred to unemployed youth and activists as “cockroaches”. Still, analysts say the movement has yet to catch broad national attention in the same way as the 2011 India Against Corruption drive led by social activist Anna Hazare, out of which the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), or “common man’s party”, was born. Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, an independent political commentator, said the opposition’s top leadership stayed away from joining the “cockroach” protests in Jantar Mantar because it might be wary of visibly associating with a movement likened to AAP. Congress and AAP had fallen out last year over frictions within the INDIA opposition bloc alliance. However, Gandhi’s demonstration outside Modi’s house earned him public attention, with news websites and social media platforms splashing pictures of him being removed. Mukhopadhyay said the cockroach movement was shaping up to be one of the government’s biggest challenges, with protests happening in the heart of the capital. While the movement might not have an immediate effect on electoral outcomes, Mukhopadhyay said it could affect state elections in Punjab and Uttarakhand due in the first quarter of 2027. Harsh Ramaswamy, an independent political analyst, hailed the protests as a positive sign of young people taking an active role in a democracy, and said it would be increasingly vital for political parties to raise such socio-economic issues.

India’s ‘cockroach’ protests: a rare political opening for the opposition?

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Analysts say Congress’ failure to be fully in sync with the movement reveals a missed opportunity to connect with India’s Gen Z

Analysts say Congress’ failure to be fully in sync with the movement reveals a missed opportunity to connect with India’s Gen Z