India’s ‘cockroach’ youth movement shifts focus to election watchdog

India’s so-called “cockroach” youth movement is attempting to turn anger over education and jobs into a wider challenge to the country’s political establishment, according to the South China Morning Post. The movement’s latest focus is the country’s election watchdog. The shift follows protests that helped force an education minister to resign two months ago over alleged leaks involving entrance examinations.

The campaign marks a move away from the group’s earlier high-profile demonstrations in New Delhi. It is now developing into a more dispersed effort that includes school audits, the report said. The movement is testing whether public frustration over education and employment can be extended into broader political opposition.

The available material did not identify the election chief by name or provide details of the audits and their findings. It also did not specify the government’s response to the campaign. The report described the change in tactics as an effort to challenge another powerful institution after the protests’ earlier impact on the education ministry.