New Delhi: Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke on Sunday asserted that his agitation against alleged irregularities in examinations and recruitment tests would continue until Education Minister of India Dharmendra Pradhan resigns. In a post on X, he said, “Change cannot happen if we don’t make our voices heard.”
Dipke returned to his residence in the MIDC Waluj area of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district on Sunday morning after participating in a protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi a day earlier. He was welcomed by family members upon his arrival.
Speaking to reporters, Dipke claimed that the protest organised under the CJP banner was successful and drew between 6,000 and 7,000 participants.
”The protest we staged (at Jantar Mantar) was successful, as 6,000 to 7,000 people attended it. This agitation will go nationwide. We won’t step back till Dharmendra Pradhan resigns,” Dipke asserted.
“We will roll out a further action plan to take this agitation nationwide,” he added.
The CJP, a youth-led online movement, has been demanding accountability for alleged irregularities in examinations and recruitment tests, including NEET, CBSE, CUET and SSC examinations.
On Saturday, hundreds of protesters gathered at Jantar Mantar demanding Pradhan’s resignation over the alleged irregularities. Dipke, who had arrived in New Delhi from the United States earlier that day carrying a copy of B R Ambedkar’s autobiography, joined the protest after obtaining permission from Delhi Police.
Protesters carrying placards demanding the minister’s resignation wore cockroach masks distributed at the venue. Besides raising concerns over examination and recruitment test irregularities, demonstrators also criticised what they described as “Hindu-Muslim” politics and raised “Bharat Mata ki Jai” slogans.
At a press conference later, CJP spokespersons said they would wait for a week for either the Centre to remove Pradhan or for him to resign voluntarily, failing which they would launch a nationwide agitation.
Launched as an online campaign in May, the CJP claims to have garnered more than 22 million followers on Instagram and had appealed to youths across the country to participate in the protest.
Climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, CPI(ML) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, CPI leader Annie Raja, and activists from Left student and youth organisations also took part in the demonstration.
Meanwhile, police heightened security at Dipke’s residence following his return.
“We have increased the security at his residence from today. Earlier, 11 security personnel were deployed, now the number has reached 15. The deployed staff is from the local police station as well as the city police headquarters,” an official from MIDC Waluj police station said.
In a post on X, Dipke described Saturday’s demonstration as a “historic” show of strength and said it reflected growing anger among students and young people over issues related to the education system.
“Yesterday, thousands of us made history. Our peaceful protest at Jantar Mantar showed the government a trailer of what cockroaches are capable of when we unite,” he wrote.
Claiming that most people who joined the demonstration had never participated in a protest before, he added, “They felt emboldened by our collective presence to express their sheer anger and frustration at the education system,” he said, while thanking supporters, including students and children, who attended the event despite the summer heat.
“Change cannot happen if we don’t make our voices heard,” he stated.
Asserting that “this doesn’t end here,” Dipke accused Pradhan of wronging an entire generation. “If he is not removed or does not step down within the next 7 days, we will be forced to continue our protest on the ground,” he said.
