In the sweltering July heat of New Delhi, where temperatures hover well above 40 degrees Celsius and the ancient astronomical observatory of Jantar Mantar is packed shoulder-to-shoulder with protestors day and night, India's most unusual political movement is reaching its most critical point yet. The Cockroach Janta Party — born barely two months ago from a single, defiant line on social media — has brought together thousands of students, activists, and ordinary citizens in a protest that refuses to die, much like the resilient insect it has adopted as its symbol.

At the heart of this moment is one deeply alarming fact: Sonam Wangchuk, the celebrated climate activist and educationist from Ladakh, is now on his 17th consecutive day of an indefinite hunger strike. He has lost over 8.2 kilograms of body weight. His blood sugar levels have repeatedly dropped to dangerous levels. He is experiencing constant dizziness and visible muscle loss. And he shows absolutely no intention of stopping.

"Don't ask me to end my fast," Wangchuk reportedly said on Tuesday morning, as quoted by CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke. "Ask the government why they won't even have a dialogue."

From a Gym Session to a National Movement

To understand how India arrived at this moment, one must go back to mid-May 2026, when Chief Justice of India Surya Kant made an off-the-cuff remark in open court, reportedly likening unemployed young people who had turned to journalism and activism to "cockroaches" and "parasites of society." The comment immediately ignited a storm of outrage.

Abhijeet Dipke, a 30-year-old postgraduate student of public policy at Boston University in the United States, had just returned from the gym and was playing FIFA on his PlayStation when he saw the remark trending online. Describing himself as "a bit disappointed and baffled," he dashed off a single line on X: *"What if all cockroaches come together?"*

What followed was extraordinary. The post attracted hundreds of thousands of views within hours. Comments and messages flooded in, particularly from Gen-Z users. Memes, jokes, and dark humour flew across social media — and then, gradually, something shifted. People began saying the movement should become more than satire. Within 24 hours, Dipke had used an AI tool to generate a logo — a cockroach in a business suit — and christened the new platform the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), a deliberate parody of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The name stuck. The movement exploded. Within days, CJP had attracted over 22 million followers on Instagram — a number that staggered even its own founder, who freely admits he never intended to lead a political movement.

"None of this was intended or planned," Dipke told the BBC at the protest ground. "It was just meant to be satire. But as millions began signing up, people started saying we also want to turn this into a serious movement because no other political party is talking about our needs or hopes and aspirations. I was kind of forced into it by our supporters."

The Spark: NEET-UG and a Broken System

The movement quickly found its central cause: the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Undergraduate), or NEET-UG — the all-important medical entrance examination taken by over 2.2 million aspiring doctors across India. In early May 2026, NEET-UG was cancelled following the exposure of a widespread question paper leak. For millions of students who had spent years studying, taken loans, and pinned their entire futures on this single examination, the cancellation was devastating.

At least 14 students whose families allege they took their own lives after the initial cancellation are memorialised at the Jantar Mantar protest site. A yellow tarpaulin is lifted by volunteers to reveal a wall bearing their names and photographs. Hundreds of handwritten messages of support surround the photographs; one, in Hindi, reads: *"If we don't fight, who will? If we don't speak, who will?"* CJP's chief spokesperson Saurav Das says the toll has since risen to nearly 20.

Schoolteacher Sheetal Choudhary, pointing to the photographs, explained who these students were: "They are not from well-to-do families. They are from very poor, very marginalised families. These are the sort of students that I teach in my class."

The CJP's primary demand is simple and unequivocal: the immediate resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. They argue that the minister must take moral responsibility for the leaked question papers, the repeated failures of the examination system, and the cascade of recruitment scandals that have shattered the futures of millions of young Indians who trusted that merit, at least, would be honoured.

On June 21, the government held a re-test of NEET-UG — but the gesture did little to address the anger boiling over at Jantar Mantar.

CJP's First Major Protest and the Government's Response

CJP held its first large-scale protest at Jantar Mantar on June 6, 2026. Dipke's return from Boston had been widely publicised, and few expected the authorities to let him attend. "Even I didn't think I'd be allowed to leave the airport. I was expecting to be arrested," he said, adding that police met him at his seat aboard the plane — but ultimately let him proceed. Hours later, he was on stage at Jantar Mantar, leading the crowd.

Since then, CJP has staged protests in half a dozen cities across India, before returning to Jantar Mantar with a renewed and fiercer determination. This time, organisers vowed, they would not leave until Education Minister Pradhan steps down.

The government's response has been dismissive. Pradhan has refused to resign, labelling CJP and its supporters as "the B-team of disruptive elements" who "do not have faith in the country's progress." BJP national president Nitin Nabin went further, warning of "new virus and cockroach-like parties" emerging "to destroy" and "break the country into pieces."

The BJP's broader stance on ministerial accountability has been equally firm. In a reminder of the party's entrenched position, senior leaders have pointed to a 2015 declaration by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh — "There will be no resignation of ministers" — as a settled party principle. That position has not softened. In the months since the NEET scandal broke, the BJP has largely chosen to ignore the Cockroach Party, criticise the opposition, and maintain silence towards the students.

An Indian court, however, has pushed back in one significant area: it directed the federal government to unblock the X (formerly Twitter) account of the Cockroach Janta Party, over a week after it had been blocked — a move that CJP had condemned as an attempt to suppress the movement.

Sonam Wangchuk: The Man Who Won't Eat Until the Government Listens

The arrival of Sonam Wangchuk at the Jantar Mantar protest site changed the character and scale of the movement. Wangchuk — a renowned environmentalist, engineer, and educationist from the Ladakh region who inspired a beloved Bollywood film — announced he would begin an indefinite hunger strike. Thousands gathered to hear him speak.

"The education system has immense problems, but even the examinations are failing," Wangchuk told the BBC. "I'm here to support these youths in their movement to bring accountability in education with the minister for education." Of the government, he was blunt: "They are not responsive, they are not sensitive."

When asked how long he could sustain a hunger strike in temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius, Wangchuk's response was stark: "It's the early days, so no issues. But I don't think much about health. It's either death or this series of indefinite hunger strikes, whichever comes first."

Seventeen days later, those words carry a terrible weight. Medical teams conduct regular health check-ups at the protest site. CJP founder Dipke has issued grave public statements about Wangchuk's deteriorating condition, saying: "What kind of government is this? Sonam Wangchuk belongs to this country. He has brought global recognition to India through his work. Today, he is fighting for the students of this country, yet the government has not even sent a single minister or delegation to speak with him. The government's complete indifference is deeply unfortunate."

Wangchuk, for his part, has made his terms clear: he will not end his fast until Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government agrees to engage in meaningful dialogue with the protesters.

Opposition Leaders Rally Around the Movement

On Monday night, a flurry of calls between CJP founder Dipke and some of India's most prominent opposition leaders reflected the growing political weight of the protest.

Dipke spoke to Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, and NCP (SP) figure Rohit Pawar.

Rohit Pawar posted on X: "Despite demands for the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, the government remains indifferent. An undeclared ban on the media is being imposed in an attempt to suppress this movement." Pawar's reference to media blackouts resonated loudly with protesters — a consistent complaint has been that India's largest television news channels have largely avoided covering the Jantar Mantar protest.

Akhilesh Yadav, while urging Wangchuk to end his fast for his own safety, was scathing about the government's silence: "The BJP government, which he is attempting to awaken through his fast unto death, is itself a principle-less and corrupt system. In its insensitivity and heartlessness, the sacrifice of anyone holds no significance."

Notably, none of the political leaders who extended support belonged to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.

The Protesters Who Won't Leave

At the protest site, beneath a burning sky, the human stories are what drive the movement forward.

Tamannah Kumari, an undergraduate student hoping to join the Indian police, arrives at Jantar Mantar every single day. "For the first time, someone is speaking for us," she says. She is preparing for her own recruitment examination — and she lives with the constant dread of another paper leak ruining her future. She holds a CJP flag in one hand and the Indian tricolour in the other. Her demand is simple: "The education minister must resign."

For CJP spokesperson Das, the question of how long they can sustain the protest is beside the point. "The movement is growing by the day, and the momentum is strong," he says. "Students' unions and civil society groups are supporting us. People send us food and water. Every morning, I receive messages from people I know — and also strangers — asking how they can help."

Das is also clear about the stakes: "If the government is stubborn, we are more stubborn. Pradhan's resignation is just one battle and battles can be won in days, weeks or months. But everyone here who's on the ground and who's supporting us online knows that this is a war. And wars cannot be won in a short time. The real fight is to get a transparent, accountable, answerable system — and that's a fight for the long run."

The March to Parliament: July 20

With Wangchuk's health deteriorating and the government's silence unbroken, the Cockroach Janta Party has announced the next phase of its campaign: a peaceful march from Jantar Mantar to the Indian Parliament on July 20, 2026. CJP spokespeople are urging "students, parents and citizens across India" to join the march alongside Wangchuk.

The planned march represents a significant escalation — from a stationary protest site to a direct, symbolic movement towards the seat of legislative power. Whether the authorities will permit it to proceed, and how large the turnout will be, may well determine the immediate trajectory of the movement.

A Moment That Has Touched a Nerve

What is extraordinary about the Cockroach Janta Party is not any single demand, protest, or leader — it is the speed and force with which it has tapped into a deep, wide reservoir of frustration among young Indians. Nearly 40 per cent of Indian graduates aged between 15 and 25 are unemployed. Examinations that should serve as meritocratic gateways have been repeatedly compromised by leaks and corruption. And for many young people, the political system has felt entirely indifferent to their anxieties.

Cries of "Pradhan go back" ring out every few minutes at Jantar Mantar. Police and paramilitary personnel watch from the perimeter behind heavy, yellow, metal barricades. On one barricade, someone has taped a handwritten poster that reads: "I am a cockroach, not a terrorist."

"What if all cockroaches come together?" was a question asked in anger and disbelief. Two months on, the answer is unfolding live on the streets of New Delhi: they can come together in their hundreds of thousands, they can endure blistering heat and police barricades, they can sustain a hunger strike for 17 days, and they can plan a march to Parliament.

The government has a choice to make. And the clock — measured, for now, in the declining weight of a fasting activist — is running.

March to Parliament CJP has called on students, parents and citizens across India to join a peaceful march from Jantar Mantar to Parliament on July 20, 2026, alongside Sonam Wangchuk.