Rahul Gandhi freed after Delhi exam protest detention
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- Rahul Gandhi was detained outside PM Modi's residence on Tuesday (Jul 22) as part of education system protests, then released, after staging a sit-in accusing the government of ignoring students' demands and condemning an earlier police crackdown in New Delhi.
- The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) movement — a social media-driven group launched in May that has attracted millions of followers — organized the protests, which the article describes as one of the biggest challenges to Modi's government since his 2024 re-election.
- Protesters demand Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation as Education Minister alongside broader reforms to India's examination system.
- Violence erupted as demonstrators hurled stones at security forces who fired tear gas and charged with batons — Delhi's largest protests in five years — injuring 60 civilians and 118 police personnel.
- Pradhan broke his silence late Tuesday, pledging "answers, reforms and accountability" and calling reform the government's commitment — his first comments since Monday's street protest.
- The protests were triggered by a leaked medical entrance exam paper that forced over 2 million candidates to retake, plus an online marking dispute that affected nearly 2 million high school students.
- Demonstrations spread to Mumbai and Bengaluru, with hundreds remaining camped at Delhi's Jantar Mantar as the CJP vowed to continue into a third day, posting 'Cockroaches are alive.'
Why it matters: Modi's government faces its first major post-2024-re-election challenge from a youth-driven social media movement, with Education Minister Pradhan now publicly on the defensive over exam system failures that affected roughly 4 million students — a crack in Modi's mandate rooted in policy rather than opposition mobilization.
