Crowds of supporters of India’s online “cockroach” movement grew on Wednesday at a New Delhi protest site, with their campaign for accountability and reform following examination scandals getting a boost inside parliament from opposition lawmakers.
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 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 on Wednesday, according to AFP correspondents.
“We will not leave Jantar Mantar until Dharmendra Pradhan resigns,” CJP spokesman Ashutosh Ranka told cheering supporters.
“In the country where people had forgotten how to ask questions, in the country where criticizing the government was considered treason -- we have now awakened that country.”
