Student protests against Modi surge, spread across India

Crowds of supporters of India’s online “cockroach” movement grew at a New Delhi protest site, while their demands for accountability and reform following examination scandals echoed in rallies across the country.

The protests, led by the social media-driven Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) movement, have emerged as one of the biggest challenges to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government since his re-election in 2024.

The campaign also got a boost on Wednesday inside parliament from opposition lawmakers, including Rahul Gandhi of the Congress party, who demanded the government apologise for a police crackdown on a major rally on Monday.

Gandhi demanded on Tuesday that Prime Minister Modi step down over the police crackdown against student protests calling for reforms in the education system.

Protesters demanding the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan have refused to leave the Jantar Mantar site in the heart of the Indian capital, with crowds swelling to several thousand people.

Movement spreads

The movement has spread beyond the capital, with smaller demonstrations springing up across the country, including in major cities like Mumbai and Bengaluru.

In eastern Patna city, police used tear gas and water cannons at a rally demanding Pradhan’s resignation, according to the Press Trust of India news agency.

The protesters, most of them young students, got a major boost on Tuesday after opposition parties threw their weight behind the movement, staging a sit-in outside the prime minister’s residence.

Gandhi, 56, who was briefly detained on Tuesday, appeared in parliament on Wednesday dressed in black, demanding accountability from the government.