On a rainy Sunday morning (July 26, 2026), Shubham Shyam, 32, held a dafali (traditional hand drum) and stood outside Mumbai’s iconic Shivaji Park, celebrating the resignation of Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. “It is time to rest, reset, and then take down Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari,” he declared.
“We will party for two weeks, then we will play the sugarcane game,” Mr. Shyam added, hinting at criticism faced by Mr. Gadkari over the implementation of E20, or ethanol-blended petrol. Mr. Shyam’s thoughts were echoed by other protesters. Aarsh, 25, a content writer, and Rohan, 19, a B. Tech. student, both said, “E20 kills vehicles and people’s pockets”. Rohan said, “Since 10th grade, I have seen fuel prices skyrocket, and now vehicle mileage is poor, and pure petrol is expensive. Why give us a cheaper E20 option? Make petrol cheaper,” said Rohan.
They were participating at a victory rally called by Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray. Thousands of Gen Z and millennials gathered at the rally to celebrate the success of the protest spearheaded by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), raising slogans such as “Our right, keep it here”, “Bharat Mata Ki Jai”, “This country is ours, and we belong to this country,” and calling for the resignations of Mr. Gadkari and Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
Mr. Uddhav Thackeray advised Prime Minister Narendra Modi to pay attention to the country, instead of engaging BJP Ministers and MPs to engineer defections. “India has come together; caste, religion and every other divide is vanishing. It is no more BJP versus the Opposition, but BJP versus the country,” said Mr. Thackeray while addressing the protesters.
He appealed to the youth to keep the spark of resistance alive, saying, “Identify the blind devotees, record videos, and post them”. Mr. Raj Thackeray expressed his gratitude to Mumbai and the Maharashtra Police, saying, “You are not like the Delhi Police. This is your victory.”
‘Shook the mountain’
Standing next to the row of yellow barricades, animator Mansi Worlikar, 26, and her friends were clutching a placard, taking a dig at Mr. Modi, who in a recent Instagram video had called the youth his “friends”. Ms. Worlikar said, “The victory feels personal, because we fought an impossible mountain and made the crack.” For her friend, entertainment writer Urvashi More, 27, it was an eye-opener that she could have a political opinion and even voice it. “Something in me has moved; I now know that my political opinion matters,” said Ms. More.
Tushar Gandhi, great-grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, also joined the victory party and said that the youth of the country have chosen their path. “However, the challenge is to make every issue a mass issue and not allow the government to confine it to a particular community, caste, or economic group,” he added.
‘Showing up does matter’
The party atmosphere appeared complete with Bluetooth speakers belting out popular Hindi songs and the Gen Z swaying to the music. In one such group stood Tarini (23), who said, “We are not saying the system has changed, but it is a hope for change. Showing up does matter.”
For Anam Khan (21), a teacher from Sion, the protest felt like a lesson on humanity. “I never felt this equal with Hindus, Jains, or any other community. We have seen instances where we were about to get detained and ran holding each other’s hands without thinking whether the other person was Hindu or Muslim. That is the beauty I saw here.”
Gia, 23, said, “The result is a cosmetic makeover, but at least now we know people in India vote with emotions. But we will vote logically, on facts.” This is a new beginning in seeking accountability from our leaders, Ms. Tarini added.
Published – July 27, 2026 12:00 am IST
