For more than a decade, India’s leader Narendra Modi has seemed politically unassailable, presiding over a government that has outmaneuvered opponents, dominated public discourse and squeezed the space for dissent in the world’s biggest democracy.
But last weekend, an online-fueled and youth-led protest movement just a few weeks old landed a blow none of the embattled mainstream political parties who oppose him have been able to: They forced his government to back down.
For days, tens of thousands of Gen Z protesters had flooded the streets of New Delhi, led by a satirical movement called the “Cockroach Janta Party”, to demand accountability for a university entrance exam leak they say robbed millions of students of a fair shot at their future. In their crosshairs was education minister and trusted Modi lieutenant Dharmendra Pradhan, on whose watch the leak had happened.
Pradhan’s resignation on Saturday was met with jubilation – and not a little surprise – at the Jantar Mandar, the eighteenth-century observatory in the capital that had become the colorful, buoyant base camp for the protest movement. Crowds took to the streets, dancing, singing and waving the national flag late into the night, celebrating what they saw as a victory for accountability and collective action.
It was a rare retreat for Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has seen off multiple civil society protest movements since it rose to power in 2014, and a blow to the personal aura of Modi who has projected himself as India’s strongman leader.
India’s education minister resigns amid ‘Cockroach’ youth protests
Their success appears to have emboldened others to believe some form of change is possible.
“A week ago you couldn’t really give any feedback to the government,” said software engineer Akshit Tyagi, 22, from the protest site in the capital.
“Now everyone has come out… and there is a validation which is spreading, and people are realizing that they can actually demand things from the government.”
Three of India’s neighbors – Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh – have all witnessed tumultuous, youth-led political change in recent years.
Now, some in India are wondering whether the success of the so-called ‘Cockroaches’ could herald the beginning of something similar in a nation where widespread youth discontent simmers below the surface.
Many of the young protesters at Jantar Mantar came of age during Modi’s hold on power, one defined by sweeping promises of national greatness, economic prosperity, and a renewed sense of nationalism. Those pledges defined their formative years, shaping expectations about their country’s trajectory and their place within it.
India remains one of the world’s fastest-growing major economies and during Modi’s three terms in office has invested heavily in infrastructure, technology and manufacturing. Yet many young Indians say that national success has not translated into opportunities for them.
The country boasts one of the world’s youngest populations, with over 360 million people between the ages of 15 and 29. However, a recent report revealed that nearly 40% of graduates aged 25 and under are unemployed.
When in May the government admitted that the exam papers for medical and dental courses had been leaked and that millions would have to re-sit nationwide, long held discontent exploded into widespread anger.
This was capitalized on by the CJP which originated as a satirical online movement created by Abhijeet Dipke, a Boston University graduate. It quickly became a vehicle for generational anxiety, and a platform to articulate grievances about employment, governance, and the lack of upward mobility.
“This indeed is a shock and setback for the BJP,” political scientist Rahul Verma, a fellow at New Delhi-based think-tank Centre for Policy Research said of the protests and Pradhan’s resignation. “They didn’t anticipate perhaps the kind of frustration or anxiety that is getting inbuilt in society.”
Over its twelve years in power, the BJP has weathered numerous protest movements – from public outrage over the sudden demonetization scheme that invalidated more than 80% of banknotes in the country, to widespread opposition against a contentious citizenship law, and months-long demonstrations by farmers protesting agricultural reforms.
Verma noted that these centered around policy or ideological disagreements, which allowed the government to rally its supporters with counter-narratives.
In contrast, he described the CJP’s protest as the “first movement driven by administrative failure,” and therefore much more difficult to contain.
Officials were, at first, quick to dismiss them. In a televised interview last month, Pradhan even labeled the CJP the “B-team of terror groups.”
India’s mainstream television news channels devoted little attention to the movement, prompting students to document them on their own.
Protesters covered events in real time, filming Instagram reels, sharing videos and memes – often laced with dark humor and jibes at Modi – and posting updates from the protest site. Social media became a running chronicle of the movement, helping transform an exam grievance into a national conversation.
The flood of content drew more young people into the demonstrations and underscored the diminishing influence of traditional media in India among Gen Z. By the time those outlets finally began covering the protests extensively, the movement had already captured the public imagination.
Momentum soared further on July 20, when police used tear gas and sticks to break up a march to parliament by tens of thousands demanding Pradhan’s removal. Undeterred, the demonstrators maintained their stance, escalating their showdown with Modi’s government, and for the first time, some called for the removal of Modi himself.
Although Modi secured a third consecutive term in 2024, he did so with a reduced parliamentary majority, making discontent among any key voter blocs much harder to ignore.
The protesters were largely middle- and lower-middle-class youth and their parents, a demographic that has traditionally formed an important pillar of BJP support, according to Verma.
“Young and middle-class voters are significantly more likely to support the BJP, which made the protests especially problematic for the government,” he said.
Modi, known for cultivating an image of stoicism and control, appeared to shift tactics late last week, releasing two video messages on social media, selfie style, that addressed students directly – a noticeable attempt to engage on a platform where the movement itself thrived.
“Thank you friends,” he said in the second video, having changed to a new camera angle slightly further away from his face following widespread mockery of the first close-up version. “I appreciate the way you responded to my video and your positive suggestions.”
On Saturday, protest leaders said they would suspend demonstrations after the government assured them their other demands – including compensation for the families of students who had taken their own lives over the exam leak scandal – would be addressed. The main protest site in New Delhi has since been cleared.
The Cockroach Janta Party has achieved what few thought possible. But its longer-term legacy may depend on whether India’s Gen Z can transform that victory into a broader movement capable of sustaining pressure on issues that affect their future.
Modi remains broadly popular and his BJP a formidable vote-winning machine that just months ago notched up a big victory in state elections – including in key regions it previously had struggled to win.
The next general election is not until 2029.
“What this was… became a fight for the youth,” said protester Devansh Gupta, who works in advertising.
“All problems that the youth have are being put in front of the government, in I don’t know in how many years. I think this is one of the greatest things to happen to India in a very long time.”
In his final remarks before leaving the protest camp at the Jantar Mantar observatory, CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke hinted that his party was not going away.
“This is not the end,” he said. “We will meet again soon.”
