Youth-led protests over exam leaks continue in Delhi despite rains

Thousands of supporters of the Cockroach Janta Party kept gathering at Jantar Mantar in Delhi despite heavy rain overnight, two days after police pushed back a march toward Parliament. The protests demand education reform and the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

The protests center on irregularities in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test, the medical entrance exam taken by 2.28 million students that was cancelled after the paper leaked, with a re-test held weeks later. For many of the young demonstrators clustered at Delhi’s best-known protest site, the leak became a symbol of something larger: a system they say rewards influence over merit and leaves students paying the price.

That frustration had already spilled into the streets on Monday, July 20, 2026, when tens of thousands of young men and women turned up for a planned march on Parliament despite a police ban. Delhi Police used tear gas and batons to disperse the crowds, and violence broke out in central Delhi before the march was halted. Supporters then refused to leave Jantar Mantar, the 18th-century astronomical observatory that has long served as a staging ground for public demonstrations in the capital.

The movement’s momentum was evident again on Tuesday, when leaders of the Congress party protested outside the prime minister’s residence in New Delhi. Supporters also travelled in from several states to join the Delhi sit-in.

Supporters point to the deaths of more than 20 students by suicide in that broader context.