Tens of thousands of young people gathered on the streets of New Delhi on 20 July 2026, on the opening day of the Monsoon Session of Parliament. The “Chalo Sansad” (Let’s Go to Parliament) march, intended to be a peaceful demonstration, met with a setback when Delhi Police charged the surging crowds with batons (lathis) and fired tear-gas shells as they pushed through multiple barricades. Demonstrators retaliated by throwing stones at the police. Some Metro stations were closed, and traffic came to a near-standstill on the capital’s roads. By the end of the day, at least 60 protesters and 118 Delhi Police personnel had been injured, while another 70 protesters were arrested.
Protests first began on 6 June 2026, following earlier leaks of medical school entrance exam papers by “predatory teachers”, which thereby compromised the results of the NEET (UG), or National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Undergraduate). NEET (UG) was conducted by the National Testing Agency, which promises “Excellence in Assessment” and a “demographic dividend” for India. A total of 2, 333, 297 candidates took the test, which consists of 180 multiple-choice questions in physics, chemistry, and biology, across 552 cities on 4 May 2026. They were competing for 128, 875 MBBS seats in 819 medical colleges-large numbers befitting the world’s most populous country. The decision to invalidate the results of this examination caused immense stress to candidates and their families, many of whom had invested much time and money in exam preparation, and more than twenty students even committed suicide. A successful re-test on 21 June, with the protection of armed guards and biometric checks, was not enough to mollify protesters, who were by now demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan as a bare minimum.
The protests in New Delhi, and in other major Indian cities, were coordinated by the self- designated Cockroach Janata Party (CJP). This protest movement arose in direct response to comments made by Chief Justice Surya Kant in the Supreme Court of India on 15 May 2026. While dismissing a “frivolous petition” concerning the designation of senior advocates at the Delhi High Court, Surya Kant attacked social media posts by “several bogus advocates in Delhi” and questioned “the genuineness of their law degrees”, before widening his dissatisfaction to include “parasites of society” and “youngsters like cockroaches, who don’t get any employment and don’t have any place in profession.” The choice of the cockroach to make his point backfired. Although the insect is widely considered a pest and a spreader of disease, with absolutely no redeeming features, in the coming days protesters were proud to call themselves cockroaches and donned cockroach masks to make their point. AI-generated images of the cockroach proliferated and came to symbolise the movement.
The day after the Chief Justice’s ill-considered remarks, Abhijeet Dipke, a 30-year-old postgraduate student in public policy at Boston University in Massachusetts, launched the Cockroach Janata Party in an Instagram post, parodying India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Dipke made use of AI to build up his website, and returned to India to take matters forward. He is by no means an amateur in the field of political communications, having previously worked as a strategist with the Aam Aadmi Party (Common Man’s Party)- a rapidly-growing political party which has since come to power in the state of Punjab. On the day the CJP was formed, the Chief Justice claimed that the media had misquoted him, as his comments were aimed at the legal profession. He confirmed that he saw Indian youth “as the pillars of a developed India.” Despite his clarification, the satirical online political campaign gained over 15 million Instagram followers within five days, almost doubling the BJP’s own Instagram presence.
The CJP, whose official website describes it as the “Voice of the Lazy & Unemployed”, has outlined a five-point manifesto, in keeping with a nascent political party, albeit one that is untainted by corporate donors. A sit-in began on 20 June at the Jantar Mantar, an 18th century astronomical observatory in central New Delhi which has over the years become the capital’s best-known protest site. The campaign received a boost when Sonam Wangchuk, a Ladakh-based educator and climate activist, joined the CJP and began a sympathetic hunger-strike on 28 June. The CJP has further benefited from the support of most major opposition parties and from many celebrities, including leading Bollywood and sport stars.
The BJP government appears to be taking the protests seriously, given the importance of the youth vote to its core voter base and thereby its political prospects. On 23 July, Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda accused opposition Congress Party leader Rahul Gandhi of seeking “political mileage” instead of protecting students’ interests. The minister’s invitation to CJP leaders to meet with him at his residence was rejected, as the protesters insisted on a neutral venue. On the same day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted on X that “Nothing is more important than the welfare and future of our youth!” Modi also promised “fast-track courts” to punish “those involved in paper leaks.”
Gen Z has begun mobilising in India, having already proven to be a potent political force in South Asia- as shown by the recent examples of Bangladesh (2024) and Nepal (2025). Gen Z power is particularly significant in India, which happens to be a relatively young country, with a median age of just 29 years. The demographic dividend of a large working-age population is, however, being squandered from failing to capitalise on India’s human capital. Unhappiness with the existing system of public examinations and a shortage of job opportunities for those who negotiate these exams successfully have become major issues for Gen Z Indians. Graduate unemployment is a particularly concern, forcing many young Indians to leave the country in search of training and employment opportunities elsewhere. Any issue that brings together young people from a variety of backgrounds in a shared cause must necessarily concern the political establishment. The BJP government appears to be rising to the challenge. The resolve of the protesters and the reactions of India’s political rulers will inevitably determine the outcome of recent events in the country.
Ashis Banerjee