As the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) held protests in Delhi, members of the Congress, CPI, SFI and DYFI staged protests at multiple locations across Chennai on July 22 in support of it, condemning police action against students in New Delhi.
At Panagal Maligai in Saidapet, Tamil Nadu State Higher Education Minister P. Viswanathan, joined protests and raised slogans against the Delhi Police for removing Opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, after they staged a dharna outside Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s residence, a very high-security zone, allegedly endangering the security of the country’s highest office.
Members of the CJP and the All India Students’ Federation (AISF) also staged overnight sit-in protests at the Communist Party of India (CPI) headquarters in T. Nagar, Chennai.
CPI Tamil Nadu Secretary M. Veerapandian led a sit-in protest at the party headquarters in T. Nagar, Chennai, urging the Centre to address the students’ demands instead of resorting to force. Students turned up in large numbers for the demonstration, which also featured gaana performances and poetry recitals.
In an unsigned statement posted on the party’s X handle late at night, TVK said the manner in which Rahul Gandhi was “dragged away and forcibly carried” by the police was “highly condemnable”.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay on July 22 said the Union Government must respect the sentiments of the people and students on the NEET issue and scrap it altogether, stating that this was the only solution.
Rapper ‘Therukkural’ Arivu and four others were briefly taken into police custody outside the Secretariat in Chennai while attempting to demonstrate against the national examination system. CM Joseph Vijay, it is reported, had met the rapper at the Secretariat.
In an unsigned statement posted on the TVK party’s X handle late at night, TVK said the manner in which Rahul Gandhi was “dragged away and forcibly carried” by the police was “highly condemnable”.
Besides Chennai, protests and demonstrations were reported across multiple cities, including Trichy, Madurai and other localities, where participants carried placards demanding resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
BJP leader Tamilisai Soundararajan, taking to her X page, said, “… What is deeply disturbing is that Tamil Nadu Higher Education Minister Vishwanathan reportedly participated in a protest where an attempt was made to burn an effigy of Hon’ble Prime Minister @narendramodi. Such acts do not strengthen democracy; they encourage confrontation and disturb public peace. Will Hon’ble Chief Minister @CMOTamilnadu explain how such an act was permitted? If strong action is taken for remarks against the Chief Minister, should there not be the same standard when the dignity of the Prime Minister’s office is targeted? The Higher Education Minister has lost the moral authority to continue in office.”
LoP Udhaya Nidhi Stalin, in a post on X, said, “I strongly condemn the government for forcibly arresting SFI and DYFI members using police force while they were protesting against the #NEET exam in Chennai Egmore and Madurai Tamukkam. The government must immediately stop this suppression, which treats protests against the Union BJP Government as protests against itself”.
In Egmore, police detained around 80 SFI and DYFI members. Thoothukudi DMK MP Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, in a post on X, questioned whether the action was taken to avoid antagonising the BJP-led Union Government.
Tamil Nadu BJP, in a post on X, said, “CJP’s protest is aimed at instigating violence, and its anti-national sloganeering clearly proves that they are not for students.”
A post by a netizen said that TVK’s actions could allow another Marina-style agitation similar to the Jallikattu protests during the AIADMK Government, where anti-national and Breaking India elements allegedly spearheaded the movement. It questioned whether the protests would eventually turn against TVK and claimed that Seeman’s NTK, DMK, Left parties, VCK and fundamentalist forces would fish in troubled waters and use the agitation to incite violence and create a bad name for TVK.
Tamil Nadu BJP Chief Spokesperson Narayanan Thirupathy, in a post on X, said, “I vehemently, furiously, and in the strongest possible language condemn the utterly shameless, disgusting, violent, and thoroughly rotten behaviour of the Cockroach Janata Party. This spineless, power-hungry, brainless, and anti-national outfit has sunk to new depths of depravity with malicious intent and a clear conspiracy to destabilise the country…”
He further said, ” The Cockroach Janata Party, Rahul Gandhi, Congress and the Communists must be called out, isolated, condemned and rejected by every patriotic Indian. Stop your disgusting drama, violence, lies and conspiracies immediately. Let Parliament function. Let policemen and reporters do their jobs in peace. Let students move forward and benefit from the genuine reforms being carried out under Narendra Modi’s leadership. The entire nation is watching and strongly condemning the rotten attitude, malicious intent and dangerous conspiracy of the Cockroach Janata Party and Rahul Gandhi’s dirty politics in the harshest terms possible.”
The protests at different locations appear to be a coordinated effort. They have come together under the banner of the protests, while CJP leaders have claimed to be independent, pointing to an attempt to derive political mileage.
Not only this, protesters at various locations were also exposed during media interactions, with their slogans differing from their stated demands and varying from one protest site to another.
