A large crowd gathered at Jantar Mantar in Delhi on Saturday following a call for protest by the Janata Party over recent exam lapses, including NEET, CBSE and CUET classes. School students, college goers, competitive exam aspirants and parents were among those present at the protest. Follow live updates on CJP protests
Many parents said concerns about the education system prompted them to participate in the demonstration, news agency PTI reported. Many attendees expressed concerns about frequent controversies over exams, uncertainty about results, and lack of accountability by authorities.
What parents said at the protest
One of the parents participating in the protest was Nusrat Parveen, who attended with her three daughters. She was quoted as saying that this witnessed the pressure students face while preparing for competitive exams.
“My children are worried about their future. As a mother, I feel this pressure too,” she said.
Her daughters, Razda, a graduating student, and Iqra, who is in Class 11, said worries about exams and admissions had become a constant theme among students. “Education has become a way to earn money,” Razda was quoted as saying.
Dhikra Parveen, an attendee at the Jantar Mantar protest, said students make their future plans based on expected results, but this uncertainty is affecting them. “We calculated our grades and were thinking about colleges. Then we learned that the paper had been cancelled,” Parveen was quoted as saying.
For some participants, the issues go beyond exams and reflect broader concerns about opportunities for young people.
UPSC examination aspirant Raju Sharma said the authorities need to be held accountable for such lapses. He also said that opposition parties should provide stronger support for education-related issues.
Neeraj, a graduate student from Haryana’s Jhajjar district, said many young people feel that the government and the opposition are not raising their concerns effectively.
He was quoted as saying: “We want a movement that can be trusted and works on people’s issues.”
CJP’s Jantar Mantar protest
The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) held a massive protest at Jantar Mantar in Delhi demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over alleged exam-related lapses. Abhijit Deepki, founder of the Gen Z-led Cockroach Janta Party, led the protest at Jantar Mantar in Delhi. Later, activist Sonam Wangchuk also joined the protest.
Debaki, who arrived in India on Saturday morning, threatened to stage a nationwide protest if Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan did not resign.
Dharmendra Pradhan and the Education Department are facing criticism over the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak issue and alleged irregularities in CBSE’s on-screen marking (OSM) system, which was used to evaluate and re-evaluate Class 12 board exams.
