The daughter of a serving Assam cabinet minister waded into one of India’s most charged student movements this week, appearing at a protest against the Centre and reportedly directing an abusive slogan at Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This moment has raised questions over growing dissent within the ruling alliance’s own ranks.
Dibisa Mahanta, daughter of Assam’s Minister for Revenue and senior Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) leader Keshab Mahanta, was seen sitting among student activists at a protest in Chachal, Guwahati, on July 23, holding placards and joining chants organised under the banner of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP). Videos of the gathering, which spread widely on social media, showed her raising abusive slogans against the Prime Minister, including one using coarse Hindi language.
Her father serves in the BJP-led NDA government in Assam as part of the AGP, a coalition partner. Her participation came in a demonstration targeting the Centre her father’s alliance backs, which has fuelled much of the online reaction, with users debating whether it signalled personal defiance or simply youthful protest instinct.
The Guwahati protest was held in solidarity with the student-led agitation in New Delhi over the alleged NEET-UG 2026 paper leak, which forced the National Testing Agency (NTA) to cancel the exam and hand the probe to the CBI. Activist Sonam Wangchuk had been on an indefinite hunger strike at Jantar Mantar in support of the protesting students.
The movement escalated after police used force to stop a “Chalo Sansad” march toward Parliament on July 20, an incident that left several protesters injured and triggered solidarity demonstrations in cities including Bengaluru and now Guwahati.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Saturday, July 25, resigned over the alleged leak and has been termed the government’s failure to reform India’s examination system.
