The Cockroach Janta Party protest at Jantar Mantar has entered its second week. Sonam Wangchuk remains on an indefinite hunger strike, while several students fasting alongside him have reportedly fallen ill after days without food.
But outside the protest site, a different battle is unfolding.
Supporters say the protest is growing by the day, with students, young people and organisations from across India joining the campaign and piling pressure on the government. Critics argue the opposite: that despite the online buzz, the protest has failed to build the kind of nationwide public support it promised.
Then there is another question: if this is a big youth-led movement, why is it almost invisible on mainstream television? Is the protest being ignored, or is it simply not as large as its supporters claim?
Fifteen days in, what is the reality on the ground?
Has the hunger strike changed the course of the protest? How many people are actually showing up? What do the protesters believe? And where is the movement headed from here?
To answer those questions, we spent another day at Jantar Mantar, speaking to protesters, students and others at the site.
Watch our ground report.
Newslaundry is a reader-supported, ad-free, independent news outlet based out of New Delhi. Support their journalism, here.
