India's Cockroach party seeking education minister's ouster awaits cabinet reshuffle

NEW DELHI: Leaders of India’s youth Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) neared two weeks of sit-in protests on Tuesday, backed by a well-known activist who has started a hunger strike in support of their demand for the resignation of the education minister.

The protests in the capital Delhi come as sources say the government is weighing significant cabinet changes, with Indian media reporting Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan could be moved from his portfolio.

The CJP, which gained 22 million followers on Instagram within a few days of being set up last month, is demanding his resignation for the leak of question papers for a national medical college entrance examination.

Pradhan, his ministry and the government’s chief spokesperson did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

About 100 supporters of the CJP have been gathering daily at the protest site in central Delhi.

“With each passing day, more people are coming here from different parts of India,” said 30-year-old party founder Abhijeet Dipke as he and social activist Sonam Wangchuk sat on a makeshift stage beneath a banner calling for Pradhan’s removal.

India’s ‘Cockroach Party’ chief flies to New Delhi for protest

“We are waiting to see what the government decides because there are reports of a cabinet reshuffle. Once that announcement comes, we will decide the next course of action.”

Wangchuk is a prominent critic of the government who was arrested last year after violent protests demanding statehood for his native Himalayan federal territory of Ladakh.

‘Six weeks of hunger strike or death’

Wangchuk said he would undertake a fast that would last six weeks unless he died first.

“But hopefully, we don’t have to go that far,” he said, lying on a mattress. “A sensitive government in a democracy listens to the pains of the people, and I hope they will take action.”

India’s ‘Cockroach’ youth movement founder arrives in New Delhi to protest Modi

CJP describes itself as representing “the lazy, the unemployed, and the chronically correct”. Its rapid online rise reflects frustrations among young Indians, who are estimated to make up more than half the country’s 1.42 billion population.

India’s unemployment rate was 3.1% in 2025 for people aged 15 and above, government data showed, but nearly 10% among those aged 15 to 29, rising to 13.6% in urban areas.

Young people have also been angered by the question paper leaks, which led to the cancellation of the medical college examination taken by 2.3 million aspirants. It was held for a second time this month after the government deployed military aircraft to transport exam papers and temporarily blocked the Telegram online messaging platform, where it said the leak was spread.

‘Cockroach’ youth group founder leads first street protest after arrival in India

The CJP has drawn criticism from Modi’s BJP, with party president Nitin Nabin saying this week that “these virus and cockroach parties can hollow out the country”.

“Such people are part of an anti-India gang and only BJP workers can teach them a lesson,” he said in a speech.