NEW DELHI: With the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) calling off its 37-day agitation following the resignation of Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan, comparisons have inevitably been drawn with Anna Hazare’s landmark anti-corruption movement of 2011.Political observers, however, believe that while both movements reflected widespread public anger and attracted spontaneous participation, the similarities largely end there.Former AAP leader and political analyst Yogendra Yadav said the defining feature of the current agitation was the scale of youth participation, news agency PTI reported.“The similarity between the two movements is that both were directed against the establishment and witnessed a spontaneous public upsurge.
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However, the support for the current movement is significant in a unique way, as it involves a large number of young people who had never previously shown interest in politics,” Yadav said.According to him, students participating in the CJP-led agitation took greater personal risks than protesters during the Jan Lokpal movement and helped break what he described as the prevailing political silence.Political analyst Sanjay Kumar said the agitation had become the most significant political challenge faced by the Narendra Modi government in more than a decade, PTI reported.He argued that unlike the farmers’ movement, which largely remained concentrated around Delhi’s borders, the alleged NEET paper leak resonated with families across the country.“When a movement involves the youth, it becomes difficult for any government to control it or engage in dialogue with them,” Kumar said.He added that the agitation had expanded beyond the alleged examination irregularities, entering homes through social media and public discourse, thereby increasing political awareness among young people.Former AAP leader Anand Kumar said both movements shared three broad similarities: neither was officially led by a political party, both emerged from public dissatisfaction with systemic failures, and both witnessed strong youth participation.However, he said the issues driving the two movements were fundamentally different.While Anna Hazare’s agitation revolved around corruption and the demand for a Jan Lokpal law, the CJP movement centred on alleged examination irregularities and unemployment.Anand also described the current agitation as more spontaneous but said it appeared to have a “void” in leadership.He further contrasted the government’s handling of the two movements, saying the then UPA government relied more on dialogue, whereas the present government initially responded with repression, which, according to him, prolonged the agitation.The CJP ended its protest on Saturday after the Centre accepted its principal demand with the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan.The organisation announced that it was withdrawing the agitation after reaching an understanding with the government on the implementation of its remaining demands.(With agency inputs)
