Congress leader Shashi Tharoor has acknowledged that the party's campaign on student issues did not resonate with young people as strongly as the recent protests led by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), calling for an introspection into what went wrong.
Tharoor said several of the issues raised by CJP during its protests at Delhi's Jantar Mantar had already been taken up by Congress through its student outreach programme, Chhatron Ki Goonj. The initiative was led by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and focused on concerns surrounding examination irregularities and paper leaks.
“Issues taken up by the CJP at Jantar Mantar had been taken up by us earlier. We had the ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ thing where Rahul Gandhi was addressing students about the paper leaks,” Tharoor said during a conversation in Mumbai.
However, he acknowledged that the Congress campaign did not generate a response comparable to that seen during CJP's protests.
“We need to ask ourselves what did we fail to do? Did we fail to listen? Was our finger missing from the pulse of the Gen Z?” Tharoor said.
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His remarks come against the backdrop of the CJP's prolonged agitation over alleged irregularities in the NEET-UG 2026 examination and other recruitment tests. The protest began on June 20 at Jantar Mantar, with students demanding accountability and action over the alleged paper leak.
The agitation subsequently drew wider attention after educationist and climate activist Sonam Wangchuk joined the protesters and began an indefinite hunger strike in support of their demands. The movement later expanded its focus to broader concerns among young people, including education, examinations and employment.
Congress, meanwhile, had been raising similar concerns through its student outreach initiatives. The National Students' Union of India had also held protests over alleged examination irregularities, while Rahul Gandhi's Chhatron Ki Goonj campaign took him to Kota, Dehradun and Prayagraj to interact with students and families affected by examination-related issues.
Gandhi had used the campaign to highlight alleged paper leaks, the difficulties faced by students and the wider employment crisis.
Tharoor's comments suggest that the Congress is now examining why its efforts failed to translate into the same level of public engagement among young people. His focus on whether the party had “missed the pulse” of Gen Z also points to a broader challenge for political parties seeking to connect with younger voters.
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