'We're an Electoral Autocracy': Meet the Cockroaches at the First Cockroach Janta Party Protest |
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New Delhi: Sameeksha, a 19-year-old college student who had appeared for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Undergraduate) [NEET (UG)] exam in 2025, said that she had fought with her parents to attend the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP)’s protest on Saturday (June 6) demanding Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation.
“My parents did not want me to come here. If I don’t fight for my rights then who will? My younger sister is in class 12 and will give the board exams next year. We have seen what is happening in the education system from paper leaks to failures in implementing a marking system. There is no political accountability,” she said.
Sameeksha was among the protesters who gathered in Jantar Mantar in response to CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke’s call on social media. Photo: Sravasti Dasgupta.
Sameeksha was among a crowd of hundreds, largely young people, who had gathered at Jantar Mantar, in the first major protest at the designated protest site in the national capital since the 2023 wrestler’s protest.
The protest came in response to CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke’s call on social media. The CJP which began as a satirical online movement, rapidly drew the Gen-Z to a political phenomenon, had asked its 22 million Instagram followers to attend its first offline protest, demanding Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation, under whom recent CBSE and NEET examinations turned into fiascos.
Over 22 lakh candidates had appeared for the NEET 2026 exam last month across 5,432 centres nationwide. It was later canceled on Tuesday (May 12) due to alleged irregularities related to paper leak. The exam is due to be held later this month.
“We are an electoral autocracy. There is anger against the government,” said Jaswant, a lawyer. Photo: Sravasti Dasgupta.
The CBSE on the other hand has come under heavy criticism after students pointed out glaring deficiencies in its newly introduced on-screen marking (OSM) system. While the government has ordered a re-exam for the NEET-UG, and transferred CBSE officials, political accountability has not been fixed.
“We are an electoral autocracy. There is anger against the government. If they call us names like anti-national urban naxal we will have no way but to protest. This protest is the outpouring of the frustration of........