India’s Cockroach youth movement stages 1st street protest in Delhi
What’s new: protesters demanded the Education Minister quit over exam irregularities as police barricaded roads near Jantar Mantar.
India’s viral Cockroach Janta Party took its campaign from social media to the streets on Saturday, with founder Abhijeet Dipke leading a sit-in at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi. Protesters called for Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to resign over a controversy tied to exam irregularities in May, while dozens of police officers blocked some nearby roads and directed crowds to the designated site. The demonstration is an early test of whether the youth-led movement can convert huge online traction into broader political support. The group has built roughly 22 million Instagram followers since mid-May, tapping anger over youth unemployment, education pressures and repeated exam-paper leaks. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has also blocked the movement’s X account in India, a move the group is challenging in a Delhi court.