Protestors Demand Education Minister’s Resignation Over Exam Leaks

In New Delhi, supporters of India’s Cockroach Janta Party rallied in protest on Saturday. They demanded the resignation of the education minister due to alleged exam irregularities and frequent paper leaks. The demonstration near Parliament drew hundreds of students and young backers of the growing movement. The protest puts further pressure on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, while attempting to garner wider national support.

With substantial security presence, authorities monitored the protest using cameras and drones. Protestors held placards and banged steel plates with spoons, echoing across the crowd calling for Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation. This action appeared to mock Modi’s previous call for Indians to show solidarity by banging utensils during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke, currently studying political communications at Boston University, encouraged participants on social media to bring plates and spoons to the rally. He stated, ‘There is a virus called Dharmendra Pradhan that has to be removed,’ emphasizing willingness to negotiate if Pradhan steps down.

Deepak Kumar, a CJP supporter, declared, ‘This is just the beginning. If Dharmendra Pradhan doesn’t resign or if no action is taken regarding this issue, this protest will not end here.’

The controversy revolves around the leak of a nationwide medical program’s exam paper on the messaging app Telegram. This situation led authorities to delay the exam and temporarily ban Telegram in India. The rescheduled exam is set to take place on Sunday, and the government states the leak is under investigation.

Expressing frustration, student Vicky Kumar remarked, ‘We study in poverty, live in poverty every day, for years at length, and after that our exam papers get leaked. Will I not get angry at this?’

The Cockroach Janta Party emerged in May, after Supreme Court Judge Surya Kant’s remarks comparing some unemployed youth to ‘cockroaches’ sparked outrage. Embracing the term as a symbol of resilience, the movement gained over 22 million followers on Instagram.

The CJP’s message has broadened to address issues such as unemployment, rising living costs, and government accountability. With a mix of humor and political criticism, supporters label themselves as unemployed and addicted to the internet. Videos and memes mocking unemployment, corruption, and political dysfunction draw millions of views, with parody CJP accounts adopting the cockroach as a satirical emblem.