India's youth-led Cockroach Janta Party movement said on Monday that a minister had promised the government would consider its demands as thousands of protesters defied police charges and tear gas to march on parliament.
The months-old movement and the protest are seen as the biggest public challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his third term, drawing millions of supporters on social media before broadening its appeal to opposition parties.
A police decision to forcibly move hunger-striking activist Sonam Wangchuk to hospital on Saturday galvanised the movement, which is demanding the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over examination paper leaks.
Members say the leaking of the papers for a national entrance test for medical school in May was a sign of deep-seated corruption in education. The leaks meant about two million students had to re-sit the exam and led to some taking their own lives.
Thousands of young supporters gathered through the night at the protest site, Jantar Mantar, in New Delhi for the march on the opening day of parliament's Monsoon session.
“Quit, quit,” the protesters chanted. “Dharmendra Pradhan quit”, “Narendra Modi quit”.
Scores of police and paramilitary officers turned out across the capital, stopping protesters as they chanted and waved the national flag.
Protests also took place in the southern city of Bengaluru and in Mumbai on the west coast, where police detained demonstrators and took them away in vans, witnesses said.
In the southern coastal state of Goa, scores of people held a candlelight vigil and called for Mr Modi's resignation.
Health Minister J P Nadda has asked for time for the government to discuss the CJP's demands, Ashutosh Ranka, the movement's national spokesperson, said in a post on X on Monday.
The demands include the release of Mr Wangchuk – who is staging his hunger strike in solidarity with the movement, Mr Pradhan's resignation and compensation of 10 million rupees ($104,000) for the families of each student who died by suicide following the leak.
Around 12 people have taken their own lives, according to media reports.
Mr Nadda said the CJP's leaders had submitted a memorandum to the government after discussions.
“I appealed to all the protesters to end their sit-in and help the administration restore normalcy,” he said in a post on X.
The Cockroach Janta Party's surge in popularity reflects frustration among young Indians. This includes job shortages as well as exam leaks, which they say happen frequently.
Scores of young people streamed towards the protest site, as police barricades on routes to central Delhi snarled traffic.
“All these leaders in power are illiterate and I am here to protest because we do not want question papers to leak,” said Adi Nathan, 21, a student from Meerut city, about 100km from the capital. “This should come to an end.”
Television footage showed police with canes charging at protesters in one area, although Delhi police denied use of force, saying the protest was “being handled professionally”.
Security officers fired rounds of tear gas near parliament to disperse the protesters, while elsewhere, some demonstrators hurled stones at police.
Mohammed Tabrez, 22, a student preparing for examinations that are the gateway to professional courses and jobs, said he had come from Amroha in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, about 165km away. “We want this corruption to end,” he said.
In a post on X, Delhi's police force appealed to the protesters to maintain peace, exercise restraint and co-operate with officers to ensure public order.
CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke and his supporters began a sit-in last month to demand the Education Minister's resignation. Mr Wangchuk joined them on June 28, launching an indefinite hunger strike.
Earlier on Monday, he offered to end his hunger strike if the government agreed to three conditions, including taking responsibility for what he said were recent failures in the education system and the exam leaks.
He said he would also end his protest if politicians and party leaders met him in hospital and assured him the conditions would be met.
