How India’s political parties are courting young voters amid student protests

While fresh national elections in India are nearly three years away, the race for the votes of students and, by extension, young people has begun in earnest.

This was evident in the way major political parties across the political spectrum engaged with the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), which has spearheaded the agitation over the exam paper leak that affected two million students across India.

For its part, CJP founder Abhijit Dipke said his supporters were disillusioned with both Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's BJP and the opposition for failing to address their concerns.

However, after police used batons and tear gas on 20 July to foil a march to parliament protesting the exam paper leaks, the party turned to opposition lawmakers with a direct appeal for support.

Opposition lawmakers from across the country, who were in Delhi for the monsoon session of parliament, were quick to oblige. On 21 July, several visited the CJP protest site at Jantar Mantar and met young demonstrators injured in the police action.

Some lawmakers provided legal assistance to protesters detained by police, while others sent food and other supplies.

Congress went a step further when its leaders, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, protested outside Modi's residence late on 21 July, calling for Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation over the exam paper leaks.

While the show of solidarity with the protesters could help opposition parties woo young voters and broaden the appeal of the CJP, analysts said that wider political backing also risked hijacking the movement and its core concerns.

The campaign against exam paper leaks could be overshadowed by broader political agendas. At the same time, the CJP is conscious that support from political parties could help sustain the movement by providing resources, organisational backing and a wider national platform.

The opposition has lost a series of elections to Modi-led BJP since he first took office in May 2014, riding a wave of anti-corruption protests.

Young people make up a major share of India's electorate and account for more than half of the country's 1.42 billion population.

Exam paper leaks and the lack of jobs under Modi, despite years of strong economic growth, have become major concerns.

India's next parliamentary elections are due by April 2029. Before then, key states including Uttar Pradesh, the country's most populous state and a BJP stronghold, and Punjab, where the saffron party is a minor player, will vote in assembly elections next year.

Given the CJP protests' potential for broad public appeal and the extensive media attention they have attracted, every political party is tempted to capitalise on the movement.

The main opposition Congress appears to be stepping up its campaign over the paper leak issue following Monday's lathi charge on students, while seeking to regain the initiative after the CJP's sit-in at Jantar Mantar took centre stage and eclipsed Congress's own agitation.

The sit-in outside Modi's residence helped Congress and Rahul Gandhi regain some much-needed political momentum after the party's campaign over the paper leak issue lost steam following the cancellation of three planned student conclaves in mid-July.

At the same time, Congress has attempted a delicate balancing act over the CJP agitation at Jantar Mantar. While the party extended support to students who were lathi-charged by police both inside and outside parliament, Rahul Gandhi and his colleagues conspicuously avoided mentioning the CJP, whose leadership of the agitation Congress has increasingly sought to appropriate.