Three organisers, one movement: The faces behind the student protest

The student protest that led to the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan was not a spontaneous eruption alone. Behind the viral posts and soaring follower counts stood three young men whose complementary skills shaped the movement. Abhijeet Dipke (30), Ashutosh Ranka (30) and Saurav Das (27) came from different regions, social backgrounds and temperaments, yet together they turned a casual insult into a nationwide rallying cry.

The trigger came on May 15, 2026, when Chief Justice of India Surya Kant compared unemployed youth turning to activism and social media to “cockroaches”. The remark drew widespread anger. Seizing the moment, Mr. Dipke, an Indian student in Boston, launched a satirical online platform for fellow “cockroaches”. Within 24 hours, 50,000 people signed up. Five days later, that number crossed one million, and the movement’s Instagram account had over 22 million followers.

Observers at Jantar Mantar, where the protest camped for 36 days, described Mr. Dipke as the heart of the movement. Politically intuitive and occasionally emotional, he argued on July 18 that the movement should escalate its demands after activist Sonam Wangchuk was removed from the site. Instead of just seeking Mr. Pradhan’s resignation, he proposed demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Despite the serious politics, Mr. Dipke brought a sense of lightness to the protest, often spending evenings chatting with demonstrators, posing for pictures and cracking jokes.

Mr. Ranka, from Jaipur, studied Materials Science and Engineering at IIT-Kanpur, where he was elected president of the Students’ Gymkhana. Described as decisive but at times authoritarian, he served as the principal strategist and the mind of the movement. Mr. Das, the youngest, was known for his affable demeanour and outreach skills, though colleagues said he could occasionally be indecisive. While Mr. Dipke and Mr. Ranka bonded over films like Swades and Rang De Basanti, Mr. Das preferred the American sitcom Modern Family.

The three shared a common political thread: their association with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). Mr. Dipke worked in the party’s social media team between 2020 and 2023, closely with senior leader Manish Sisodia. Mr. Ranka also worked for the party. Mr. Das’s proximity to former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was well known. None of them concealed this link during the agitation.

Mr. Dipke, born in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (formerly Aurangabad), Maharashtra, into a Dalit family, did not let his caste identity dominate his public role. “He is a student leader who is also a Dalit and not the other way round,” said a leader associated with the protest. On one occasion, after ink was thrown at him on July 18, he responded briefly: “Blue is my colour. Jai Bhim.” He studied journalism at Tilak Maharashtra Vidyapeeth in Pune before moving to the U.S. in 2023 for a Master’s degree in Public Relations at Boston University.

The movement’s success, analysts said, lay in its ability to channel anger into a structured demand. The resignation of the Union Education Minister marked a significant outcome, but the larger issue of youth unemployment and social media activism remained. The three organisers, though distinct in style, had demonstrated how a small group with clear roles could amplify a message across the country.