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    COVER STORY                                                           AUGUST 14, 2026      |  The Indian Eye                    4

                                             NEW PRESSURE GROUP

              CJP GOES NATIONAL

                   What began as a protest against examination paper leaks has evolved into one of

                  the most significant citizen-led movements in recent years, forcing political parties,
                  Parliament and even the Supreme Court to engage with questions of accountability

            OUR BUREAU                                                                                                   Expanding Beyond
            New Delhi                                                                                                      Student Issues

                  he rise of the Cockroach Ja-                                                                          nother notable feature of the
                  nata Party (CJP) is one of the                                                                        movement is its rapid expan-
            Tmost intriguing political de-                                                                        Asion beyond education.
            velopments in contemporary India.                                                                         The newly announced Kya Bolti
            In a matter of weeks, a movement                                                                      Public campaign seeks to create a
            that initially centered on the alleged                                                                nationwide dialogue on governance,
            NEET paper leak has expanded into                                                                     democratic institutions and citizens’
            a nationwide campaign questioning                                                                     concerns. Rather than focusing sole-
            the functioning of democratic insti-                                                                  ly on examination reforms, the cam-
            tutions, the accountability of govern-                                                                paign aims to “shift the narrative back
            ments and the place of young people                                                                   to the public,” encouraging citizens to
            in India’s political process.                                                                         voice concerns about accountability
                Whether one agrees with its                                                                       and public institutions.
            methods or its rhetoric, the CJP has                                                                      Its  leadership  has  also  invoked
            already achieved something that                                                                       the constitutional ideals of Jawa-
            many established opposition parties                                                                   harlal Nehru, B.R. Ambedkar and
            have struggled to do—it has shaped                                                                    Mahatma Gandhi while emphasizing
            the national political agenda.                                                                        secularism and social justice as guid-
                Its next phase, a nationwide out-  Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke addresses the media, in Chhatrapati   ing principles.
            reach campaign titled Kya Bolti Pub-               Sambhajinagar on Thursday (ANI Video Grab)             Whether these broad ideological
            lic, scheduled to begin in September,                                                                 commitments can unite diverse con-
            suggests that the organization has                                                                    stituencies remains an open question.
            ambitions far beyond student poli-  what had largely been an education   leaders, the objective is therefore to   Expanding from a single-issue move-
            tics. Yet what makes the movement   issue into a national political contro-  rebuild institutional accountability   ment to a national citizens’ platform
            particularly interesting is that it has   versy.                    rather than merely contest elections.   is  considerably  more  difficult  than
            deliberately refused to become a con-  Visuals of tear gas, lathi charges   This distinction is politically sig-  sustaining momentum around exam-
            ventional political party, choosing in-  and allegations of pellet gun use   nificant.                ination reforms alone.
            stead to function as a pressure group.   dominated  national  media.  Almost   Pressure groups enjoy freedoms   Many protest movements have
                That decision may ultimate-   overnight, CJP moved from the mar-  that political parties often lose. They   struggled precisely at this stage.
            ly prove to be its greatest political   gins to the center of political debate.  are not constrained by electoral al-  Perhaps CJP’s greatest achieve-
            strength.                             In democratic politics, moments   liances, candidate  selection,  fund-  ment has been compelling India’s
                The origins of the CJP lie in   matter. July 20 became that moment   raising demands or legislative com-  mainstream political class to respond.
            widespread public anger over al-  for the movement.                 promises. Instead, they can focus     The Opposition has repeatedly
            leged examination irregularities and   Not Another Political Party  exclusively on mobilization and is-  raised the July 20 protests in Parlia-
            paper leaks that affected millions of                               sue-based campaigns.              ment, demanding statements from
            students. What began as an educa-        nlike many protest move-       History suggests that some of the   Prime Minister Narendra Modi and
            tion-related protest quickly evolved     ments that eventually seek   most influential political movements   Union Home Minister Amit Shah re-
            into a broader movement question- Uelectoral power, the CJP has     began precisely this way. India’s an-  garding the police response. Congress
            ing governance itself.            consciously chosen a different route.  ti-corruption movement of 2011, the   leaders  Rahul  Gandhi,  Mallikarjun
                The turning point came with the   Founder Abhijeet Dipke has re-  JP Movement of the 1970s and nu-  Kharge and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra
            July 20 “Sansad Chalo” march in   peatedly stated that India currently   merous  farmers’  agitations  all  influ-  have all sought to make the protests a
            New Delhi. Thousands of students   needs “a pressure group” rather than   enced national politics before assum-  national political issue.
            attempted to march towards Parlia-  another political party. The organiza-  ing any formal electoral character.  This represents a significant shift.
            ment demanding accountability over   tion argues that public confidence has   Whether CJP follows a similar tra-  Initially,  the  protests were treat-
            examination reforms and the resigna-  weakened not only in politicians but   jectory remains uncertain, but its strate-  ed largely as student demonstrations.
            tion of the Union Education Minis-  also in institutions such as the Elec-  gic positioning reflects a sophisticated   Within weeks, they had become part of
            ter. The confrontation between pro-  tion Commission, judiciary and sec-  understanding of contemporary pub-  parliamentary debate, opposition mobi-
            testers and Delhi Police transformed   tions of the media. According to CJP   lic disillusionment with party politics.  Continued on next page... >>

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