On June 6, I wrote in this newsletter that many were watching the advent of the Cockroach Janta Party with caution even as it rapidly garnered a massive social media following – mostly comprising the young. The scepticism was based on the political campaign’s amorphous positions on the key problems India faces and a concern that the youth movement could get co-opted by forces beyond its control.I did not imagine then that the movement would, in a matter of weeks, force Prime Minister Narendra to sack Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and take responsibility for the alleged irregularities in competitive examinations under his watch.Through June, the Cockroach Janta Party had held events in cities across India to demand the resignation of Pradhan. It made few headlines. But that changed on July 18 when the police forced activist Sonam Wangchuk into hospital, three weeks into his hunger strike in support of the students’ demands.The movement got turbocharged.On July 20, as protesters gathered to march to Parliament, security personnel fired tear gas and lathi-charged them in central Delhi. Several were injured. The police also used dangerous pellet guns against the demonstrators. Four people were hit. One may lose an eye.The action of the police, which reports to the Narendra Modi government, was widely condemned. Support for the protesters from the Opposition parties was ramped up.A day later, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi lent his voice to the agitation by holding a surprise sit-in outside the prime minister’s residence, demanding that Pradhan be sacked. He and several Opposition politicians were briefly detained by the police.Images of Gandhi being dragged away made the front pages of newspapers and got visibility on news channels that otherwise gave the Opposition little airtime.The factors that led me and others to feel sceptical about the Cockroach Janta Party seven weeks ago remain. But they are no longer relevant.The undercurrent of anger among India’s youth that brought the Cockroach Janta Party to life evidently transcended the movement’s leadership. The anger went from memes and reels to the street.The demonstrations by young people across India over the past week have been less about fixing accountability for paper leaks and more about challenging what the protesters view as the Modi government’s arrogance in dealing with problems.The youth protests channelised the broad discontent against the Modi government that has long been stifled, often brutally. The anger against the prime minister cuts across class and religious backgrounds, my colleagues Anant Gupta and Ayush Tiwari wrote this week.No matter what happens to the Cockroach Janta Party – whether it grows or fizzles out – it has helped prepare a critical mass of youth for something bigger in the times to come. The movement is the little boy from The Emperor’s New Clothes who yelled out what their elders had had feared to.Follow Scroll’s coverage of the youth protests here.A version of this newsletter was sent out to Scroll’s members before Pradhan resigned on Saturday afternoon.Here is a summary of last week’s other top stories.Assam floods. The toll in flood-related incidents this week in Assam crossed 40. More than 6.4 lakh persons in over 900 villages, spread across 11 districts, were affected by the floods. Sivasagar was the worst-affected district, with 328 villages inundated by Thursday.Sikkim tunnel deaths. Twenty-five workers were killed following a blast in a tunnel that was being constructed in Sikkim’s Namchi district. The four-day search and recovery operation concluded on Thursday. Twenty-seven persons were trapped inside the tunnel after the blast on Monday.BJP’s UCC push. The Madhya Pradesh Assembly passed the Uniform Civil Code Bill to ban polygamy and introduce strict conditions for live-in relationships. Adivasi communities have been exempted from the bill to safeguard their customs and traditions.With this, Madhya Pradesh became the fourth Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled state to pass a Uniform Civil Code bill. Congress MLAs opposed the legislation and demanded that it be sent to a select committee for review.During the discussion on the bill, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav said that the Opposition party was trying to appease the Muslim community and accused its legislators of being “anti-tribal”.Also on Scroll last weekDelhi hospital reports show pellet wounds on journalist covering students’ protestsHow Mumbai Police is using surveillance to stop youth from protesting‘People’s sympathy is now with the youth’: BJP workers worry about crackdown on protestsWatch: What next as youth storm DelhiWhy tree cutting on Dehradun highway could upend the life of a communityGandhi to Wangchuk, what history says about the success of hunger strikes in IndiaDelhi protests: Constitution demands that India’s judiciary check police excessIndia’s soaring concrete skyline is a carbon emissions blindspot‘Jana Nayagan’ review: Vijay’s new film is extremely lazy and incredibly tacky‘Aga Aai Aaho Aai’ review: A warm and witty look at competing mothersFollow the Scroll channel on WhatsApp for a curated selection of the news that matters throughout the day, and a round-up of major developments in India and around the world every evening. 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