New Delhi may be ground zero for the battle against the NEET-UG paper leak, but after police lathis rained down on peaceful protesters during the Chalo Sansad march, the anger refused to stay contained. It has broken out across the country and is seeping into even the smallest corners.
From the hill towns of Shimla and Itanagar to the shores of Goa and the streets of Kerala’s Thrissur, from Mumbai, Bengaluru and Kolkata to the high passes of Ladakh — students are pouring out in numbers, carrying candles and burning anger in equal measure, confronting a government that has chosen silence over accountability.
Political parties too have joined the chorus, leading protests in cities like Chandigarh and Hyderabad.
While police strongly cracked down in Mumbai, arresting student protestors and sending them legal notices by WhatsApp; in small-town Roorkee, IIT-Roorkee, issued a notice on July 20 warning its students, faculty and staff not to participate in the ”political movement like the one currently in public utterance” or make public statements and embarrass relations between the institute and the government.
The movement has also gone global as similar protests are held by Indian diaspora in the UK and New York, in solidarity with the student movement erupting in India.
The protesters of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) continued their sit-in at Jantar Mantar on Wednesday, with more supporters gathering at the protest site overnight and volunteers receiving food and other supplies sent by sympathisers, as the agitation over alleged irregularities in competitive examinations entered its second month. CJP spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka said the agitation would continue until Pradhan resigns.
Here is a glimpse into student protests in small towns and cities in India:
Himachal and Arunachal
Several districts in Himachal Pradesh appear to have risen in solidarity with Sonam Wangchuk and students. Students, youth and Left-affiliated organisations are staging protests across several districts of Himachal Pradesh in support of Wangchuk and slammed the lathicharge on protesters in Delhi.
A massive protest was held in Itanagar, the capital of Arunachal Pradesh, where thousands of people — primarily youths — staged a march. Organised under the banner ‘Youth for Change,’ thousands of students and youth took out a peaceful rally from Akashdeep to Indira Gandhi (IG) Park in Itanagar. Similar solidarity protests were also held in other parts of the state, including the towns of Aalo and Namsai.
Kerala
The All India Students’ Federation (AISF) held a spirited protest march to the BSNL office in Thrissur, resulting in police intervention and the use of water cannons against activists. Congress and other Opposition parties staged demonstrations in Kerala to express solidarity with the ongoing protests in Delhi over the irregularities in the NEET examination.
Activists staged protest marches to the Lok Bhavan and other central government offices across Kerala on Tuesday evening. Roads and trains were also blocked in some parts of the state.
Uttarakhand
Local student groups and aspirants have held sit-ins to join the national chorus calling for system-wide transparency.
Student protests in Dehradun have intensified, with thousands of youths taking to the streets and marching toward the Uttarakhand Secretariat. Hundreds of youths marched toward the Secretariat demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, culminating in clashes with the police.
Students and youth groups stage a protest outside the Secretariat over alleged irregularities and examination paper leaks and other various issues, in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, Tuesday, July 21, 2026. (PTI Photo)
Ladakh
For the first time since the agitation began, students held a peaceful, democratic march in Kargil under the banner “Save Merit, Save Students, Save the Nation,” complemented by a large candlelit march through Leh’s main market.
A delegation of Ladakhi leaders recently met CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke at Jantar Mantar and expressed solidarity with the students protesting in Delhi. The delegation voiced support for the peaceful student movement and strongly condemned what they described as the “brutal crackdown” on the protesters.
Goa
Hundreds of protesters held a solidarity march in Panaji two days ago and the Goa police has lodged an FIR against “unknown supporters” and “protesters” for unlawful assembly.
Madhya Pradesh
There has been a major escalation in Indore, where more than 1,000 students have gathered to protest in solidarity. School and college students were joined by parents, teachers, artists, and the larger public at the Tantya Bhil statue near the busy Bhanwarkuan intersection.
Also read: Delhi’s student uprising: Did Centre misread the mood?
Notably, the local community rallied around the students, providing food, water, and snacks.
Uttar Pradesh
Widespread student demonstrations have taken place in Lucknow, driven by local candidates who discovered massive discrepancies between their self-evaluated OMR sheets and official results.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) too staged coordinated protests across all districts of Uttar Pradesh on June 20.
AAP workers stage a protest in support of activist Sonam Wangchuk and the Cockroach Janta Party’s protest at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar, demanding Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan?s resignation, in Lucknow, Monday, July 20, 2026. (PTI Photo)
Lucknow district president Iram Rizvi criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for failing to address the protesters camping in Delhi. The party also targeted the central government’s perceived inaction regarding the mental and emotional toll of the scandal, questioning why the education minister has not stepped down following the exam irregularities.
Hyderabad
Hundreds of students, citizens, and activists in Hyderabad protested in solidarity. Twenty-six Students’ Federation of India (SFI) activists were taken into preventive custody at Khairtabad for disrupting traffic but they were later released. Demonstrations broke out at multiple locations across the city.
People stage a protest against the police action on the Cockroach Janta Party supporters during their parliament march, in Hyderabad, Tuesday, July 21, 2026. (PTI Photo)
There was a ‘Chalo Lok Bhavan’ march at Khairtabad Junction, a gathering of over 150 people at the Press Club, a 250-person sit-in during heavy rain at People’s Plaza, an Artists’ Collective protest in Gachibowli, and a civil society rally from the Secretariat to the Ambedkar statue.
Students and political youth wings also organised torchlight rallies and postcard campaigns at major educational hubs, including the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU) and surrounding areas.
mumbai
The agitation in Mumbai has intensified heavily, resulting in a strict legal crackdown. Around 900 people, mostly students between 20 and 24, have been booked across eight separate FIRs registered by the Mumbai police, with many receiving legal notices via WhatsApp.
The demonstrations in Mumbai were organised under the coalition banner “Mumbai Against Suppression of Students (MASS)”, with heavy participation from student bodies like the Students’ Federation of India (SFI), All India Students’ Federation (AISF), Chhatra Bharati, and the Aamchi Padhai Aamchi Ladai campaign.
People stage a protest in support of Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) and demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over alleged irregularities in the NEET examination, at Shivaji Park in Mumbai, Tuesday, July 21, 2026
The Mumbai Police maintained that the protests were unauthorised and violated active prohibitory orders. They heavily barricaded the streets and preemptively detained over 200 students and activists, carting them off to different police stations including Dadar, Sion, Mahim, and Worli before releasing them late at night.
The Mumbai Police registered a total of 12 FIRs across the city, invoking charges related to unlawful assembly and disobedience of public orders under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). One single FIR registered at the Shivaji Park police station named “500 to 600” unidentified persons.
Pune
In a unique form of protest, some students targeted the government for not addressing the education crisis by distributing “Melody” chocolates, taking a dig at a popular social media meme involving PM Modi and Italian PM Giorgia Meloni.
Bengaluru
Cities like Bengaluru are serving as regional rallying grounds where student organisations have systematically carried out protest marches and submitted exam reform manifestos. Expressing solidarity, around 1,500 people participated in a protest, organised by the All India Students’ Association (AISA) Karnataka, at Freedom Park.
The All India Democratic Students Organisation (AIDSO) led a parallel demonstration at Bangalore University.
Several students raised placards, demanding answers and invoking satirical cartoons. They demanded a “corruption-free education system” and sang Bob Dylan’s Blowin in the Wind’ and screamed, “How many student suicides will it take for the government to open its eyes?”
Bengaluru continues to simmer, closely watching the developments in Delhi.
Chennai
The nationwide agitation against irregularities in NEET-UG has intensified in Tamil Nadu as well, with students, professors, and activists staging a major sit-in demonstration in Chennai. The protest was organised under the joint banner of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) and the All India Students’ Federation (AISF), alongside active support from student bodies like the SFI.
After Chennai police denied permission to host public rallies anywhere in the city, organisers altered their strategy. The core sit-in was moved inside the Communist Party of India (CPI) state office premises in T Nagar and near Panagal Maaligai.
Members of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) stage a protest demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over alleged irregularities in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET), claiming it deprives underprivileged students of equal educational opportunities, at the Communist Party of India (CPI) headquarters, in Chennai, Tuesday, July 21, 2026. Photo: PTI
The demonstrators carried placards and images highlighting the high-handed police response meted out to students in New Delhi.
Jaipur
In Jaipur, students and youth organisations, alongside political groups like the Congress, have taken to the streets to protest recurring exam paper leaks and irregularities, such as the RPMC paramedical and NEET-UG examinations.
Demonstrations have taken place at major locations like Rajasthan University and Ambedkar Circle.
‘Main bhi cockroach’ goes global
India’s student protests have gone global, with solidarity demonstrations breaking out in New York and London.
In New York City, students and members of the Indian diaspora gathered at the Mahatma Gandhi statue in Union Square carrying placards in support of the movement. Similarly, in London, demonstrators gathered outside the Indian High Commission to voice their demands. Organised by SFI-UK, major solidarity rallies demanding fair and transparent education were held outside the Indian High Commission in London, as well as in Manchester, Glasgow, and Edinburgh.
The international protesters called for greater transparency, accountability, and systemic reforms within India’s education and public examination systems.
Rajasthan
Meanwhile, in Kota, the premier coaching hub for medical and engineering aspirants in India, students held rallies. Many of the students had also travelled to Delhi to participate in the Delhi Chalo Sansad march.
Thousands of medical aspirants had earlier gathered for massive sit-ins and demonstrations at prominent public spaces, such as the Dussehra Ground in Kota. For Kota students, the demonstrations honour and demand justice for the multiple aspirants who died by suicide due to the overwhelming distress caused by the examination’s systemic failure.
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