The movement was initiated by Abhijeet Dipke, a former student at Boston University, who arrived in India on June 6 to lead a peaceful protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi under the banner of the Cockroach Janta Party. The central demand of the protest was that Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan should resign and accept responsibility for the NEET-UG paper leak.
Over the following days, the 30-year-old leader expanded the campaign to several cities across the country, turning it into a nationwide movement. The prolonged sit-in protest officially began on June 20 and continued for more than a month. The demonstration gained further momentum on June 28 after climate activist and educationist Sonam Wangchuk joined the agitation with an indefinite hunger strike. Wangchuk concluded his fast on July 23.
As part of the campaign, the organisation also held the "March to Parliament" demonstration on July 20, demanding accountability from the government over the examination controversy.
The protest has now extended well beyond Jantar Mantar. According to Cockroach Janta Party spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka, demonstrations are currently taking place in at least 34 cities across India. In a social media post on July 23, Ranka stated that these cities were protesting against examination paper leaks and declared that the country had awakened to the issue.
The cities participating in the movement include Kurukshetra, Chandigarh, Jammu, Dharamshala, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Lucknow, Prayagraj, Unnao, Rampur, Bhopal, Indore, Ahmedabad, Surat, Patna, Bilaspur, Raipur, Kolkata, Jadavpur, Bengaluru, Davangere, Kalaburgi, Guwahati, Aizawl, Itanagar, Shillong, Agartala, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram, Rajahmundry, Chennai, and Thiruvananthapuram.
The movement also gained widespread public attention after a photograph of a woman standing in front of a detention vehicle carrying protesters near Shivaji Park in Dadar, Mumbai, went viral. The woman was identified as Rhiya Ahir, who describes herself on her Instagram profile as an actor, model, and entrepreneur. She stated that although she is not a student, she stands in solidarity with those protesting.
In Chennai, the round-the-clock sit-in protest at Balan Illam, which began on a small scale on Monday, gathered significant momentum by the end of the week. More than 500 people, including celebrities, joined the demonstration.
Members of the May 17 Movement also staged a protest outside Shastri Bhavan in Nungambakkam, Chennai, on Friday. Holding placards, they demanded the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
In Kolkata, protesters participated in a demonstration organised jointly by the Students' Federation of India and the Cockroach Janta Party, expressing solidarity with the nationwide movement against the alleged irregularities in the NEET-UG examination.
In Bhopal, MBBS students expressed support for the protesters opposing the alleged irregularities in the NEET examination, while in Lucknow, members of various organisations and students carried placards and raised slogans during a foot march supporting the students continuing their protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi.
The expanding participation across multiple states, the involvement of students, activists, public organisations, and prominent individuals, and the sustained demonstrations in dozens of cities have transformed the NEET-UG paper leak protest into one of the country's most widespread education-related movements, with protesters continuing to demand accountability and the resignation of the Union Education Minister.
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