Prime Minister Narendra Modi will have to choose whether students are more important to him or an "incompetent" and "failed" minister, Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke said on Saturday at a protest in Amritsar as part of its nationwide campaign seeking Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation.

Students and youth assembled in large numbers at the Golden Gate, the entry point to the city, to join the Cockroach Janta Party's (CJP) demonstration against alleged examination irregularities, pressing for Pradhan's resignation.

Similar protests were earlier held in Delhi, Pune and Lucknow.

"We will all go to Delhi on June 20 and camp there till the time Dharmendra Pradhan resigns. Do not be afraid to go to jail. When I returned to India from the US, I too thought that I would be put behind bars.

"The main objective is to provide justice to NEET and CBSE students. Accountability must be fixed. Paper leaks can't go on," Dipke told the gathering.

The CJP founder also said that no agitation can succeed in the country without support from Punjab.

"The farmers' agitation against the (now repealed) farm laws began from Punjab. I had gone to the Singhu border to join the protesters. We saw how the Centre tried to defame the agitation. In our country, anyone who raises questions is branded a Pakistani," he said.

Reiterating that Pradhan must step down after taking responsibility for the alleged examination fiascos, Dipke said, "Prime Minister Narendra Modi will have to make a choice – either he is with the students or an incompetent and failed minister. And he must decide soon."

Underlining that Pradhan has not resigned even after being served an ultimatum, Dipke said there can be no government more "shameless" than the current dispensation.

The CJP founder also said that he returned from the US last Saturday because the government stopped listening to the students.

"It is taking us for granted," he said.

One of the protesters, Gurvinder Singh, said people from different walks of life hit the street on Saturday to lend their support to the students and their demands.

Many Sikh youth and farmers were seen raising issues facing Punjab with the CJP protesters, including sacrilege incidents, release of Sikh prisoners ('Bandi Singhs'), and the plight of the farming community.

Some of them also branded the protesters "directionless" for their alleged lack of clarity over the next course of action if the government didn't budge.

A sizeable number of youth from the Majha region – Tarn Taran, Gurdaspur, Pathankot and Amritsar – joined the demonstration.

The CJP, which was launched last month as a satirical online movement in response to Chief Justice of India Surya Kant's remarks comparing some unemployed youth to "cockroaches", hit the ground at Delhi's Jantar Mantar on June 6, followed by demonstrations in Pune on June 11 and in Lucknow on June 12.

The group gained visibility through social media campaigns centred on paper leaks, positioning itself as a youth-led platform advocating reforms in the education sector, with Pradhan's resignation as its main demand.

The CJI later said a section of the media misquoted him on his "cockroaches" remark that sparked the outrage.