As BJP faced student ire, why allies Sena, NCP remained on the sidelines

Young participants carried placards mocking the government and the outgoing education minister while celebrating the campaign. (Express Photo by Sankhadeep Banerjee) 4 min readMumbaiJul 27, 2026 07:30 AM IST First published on: Jul 27, 2026 at 07:30 AM IST While the BJP battled hard last week to counter the narrative unleashed by the Cockroach Janta Party’s (CJP) protests against exam paper leaks and the police crackdown on the protesters on July 20, alliance partners Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) remained on the sidelines. The allies, afraid that they would also face the backlash coming the BJP’s way, disapproved of the Centre’s manner of tackling the protest and for not consulting its allies about breaking the deadlock. Both the allies distanced themselves by saying that