MUMBAI, July 21 -- As a massive student protest led by the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP), supported by Ladakh-based activist Sonam Wangchuk, unfolded in New Delhi, students across Maharashtra staged solidarity demonstrations, voicing outrage over the NEET paper leak and demanding the resignation of Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan. Apart from Mumbai, protests were held in Thane, Bhiwandi, Pune, Nashik, Kolhapur, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Nagpur, Jalgaon, Beed, Sindhudurg, Washim, Akola, Yavatmal, Chandrapur, Parbhani, Amravati, Bhandara and Nandurbar, among several other places on Monday. Leaders from opposition parties also joined demonstrations at multiple locations. In Pune, hundreds of students gathered outside the district collector's office near the statue of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, while students of the Film and Television Institute of India held protests inside the campus. In Thane, protesters staged a street play depicting the emotional and academic toll of paper leaks on students. In Nagpur, students organised a peace march, while in Parbhani they participated in a one-day fast. The Nationalist Congress Party (SP), along with Shiv Sena (UBT), the Communist Party, and students from across Thane and Bhiwandi took their protest march to the Thane Collector's Office. Addressing the gathering, NCP (SP) leader Jitendra Awhad said, "Bhagat Singh was 27 years old, Rajguru was 26, and Sukhdev was also 26 - all college-going students. Once students' minds are ignited, no one can stop them. This movement does not have the backing of any political party; they have united on their own. A wave of public anger has begun, and the struggle to save the country has now started." Criticising the Union government for its "brutal crackdown on the protestors", Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray said, "What must the world be thinking of the regime in our country now?" State revenue minister Chandrashehhar Bawankule defended the government's stand and alleged that the protests are being held to malign PM Modi. "They are hatching a conspiracy in the name of paper leak. The minister had no role in the paper leak, but instead of offering constructive suggestions for reforms, they are trying to target the government. They are doing this because they have no other issues to raise," said Bawankule....