Jul 23, 2026 12:27 pm IST

Opinion | CJP Protest And Opposition's Never-Ending Search For 'Readymade' Revolts

The Opposition cannot simply saunter in after anger has been created, and ask to become its beneficiary

Rasheed Kidwai Rasheed Kidwai Columnist

Rasheed Kidwai Columnist

There is an old habit in Indian Opposition politics: mistaking proximity to public anger for ownership of it. Once a protest acquires critical mass, politicians arrive with predictable urgency. They sit on the dharna carpet, condemn the government, meet the injured, offer legal help, and ensure that cameras record their solidarity. None of this is illegitimate. Opposition parties are expected to stand with citizens confronting the state.

But the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) agitation has posed a rather more uncomfortable question: why did so many young Indians have to invent a political language of their own before the Opposition began listening?

The CJP did not emerge from a Congress frontal organisation, a Samajwadi Party cadre network, or an AAP campaign. It grew as an irreverent, digitally native expression of discontent and then attached itself to issues of enormous seriousness: examination leaks, unemployment, corruption, and the fear that merit itself is being rendered meaningless.

This week, tens of thousands came onto Delhi's streets; police used batons and tear gas during the march towards Parliament, and Sonam Wangchuk's hunger strike gave the protest an additional moral weight. By July 22, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had publicly promised action against those responsible for examination malpractice, while Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan offered reforms and a parliamentary discussion.

That a protest created outside conventional Opposition politics has succeeded in forcing the government to respond should worry the Opposition more.

A Protest Born In Political........

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