This week tens of thousands of young people have taken to the streets of Delhi, India’s capital, demanding changes to the electoral system and the resignation of the country’s electoral commissioner. Thousands have been detained by police in the process.
They represent the ‘cockroach’ movement, a grassroots campaign group started by a Boston University graduate in protest at government policies and high youth unemployment. How did a movement that started as a meme capture the minds of India’s young people, and start to pose a challenge to its long-serving prime minister, Narendra Modi?
The BBC’s South Asia correspondent, Azadeh Moshiri, explains.
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Photo: A protester gestures while being detained by security personnel during a protest by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) seeking the resignation of India's Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, near the protest site in New Delhi, India, October 10, 2026. Credit: Reuters/Adnan Abidi