Delhi Police used tear gas and baton charges on 20 July to disperse thousands of protesters attempting to march on Parliament, leaving at least 60 civilians and 118 police personnel injured, according to official figures. The following day, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and other opposition MPs staged an unsanctioned sit-in outside Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s official residence, demanding accountability for the police action and the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. They were forcibly removed and detained for several hours before being released. The sequence transformed a month-long agitation by the satirical Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) into a direct confrontation between the government and the parliamentary opposition.

The CJP, which emerged after a Supreme Court judge referred to unemployed youth as “cockroaches,” has anchored its protest in demands for Pradhan’s resignation over the leak of the NEET medical entrance exam and broader examination-system failures. The government, through Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, stated that Prime Minister Modi had called for a “foolproof system” and swift punishment for those arrested, while Pradhan accused the Congress of “shamelessly exploiting students as political tools” and choosing “spectacle over democratic debate.” Opposition parties, including the Congress, Samajwadi Party, and left formations, countered that the government had refused a parliamentary discussion on the issue and must accept responsibility for what they described as brutal police conduct.

Multiple FIRs were registered for rioting and damage to public property, while protesters alleged excessive force, including the use of pellet guns and shock batons—claims the police denied. Activist Sonam Wangchuk, on hunger strike since 28 June, was transferred from a government hospital to a private facility after a Delhi High Court intervention. Parliament was adjourned twice amid opposition uproar, internet services were disrupted in central Delhi, and over 70 people were detained. The CJP removed its spokesperson after a video showed him away from the protest site during the crackdown, underscoring internal tensions within the movement.

Viewed from New Delhi, the protests channel accumulated anger over educated unemployment—official data places youth joblessness at 9.9%—and a cascade of examination leaks that have affected millions of aspirants. The CJP, which began as an online satire page, has mobilised Gen Z support by framing the leaks as a betrayal of meritocracy. The opposition’s embrace of the movement signals an attempt to harness this discontent against a government that lost its parliamentary majority in 2024. The dossier remains open: the CJP has suspended marches but continues its sit-in at Jantar Mantar, while the government has indicated readiness for a parliamentary debate, though no date has been set.