CJP expands student movement to Jharkhand, raises concerns over trust in institutions

Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke announced support for Jharkhand job aspirants protesting alleged recruitment irregularities. He said CJP would function as a public pressure group focused on institutional accountability, while ruling out immediate political ambitions

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke on Wednesday declared support for protesting students in Jharkhand, stating that the youth movement will operate as a “pressure group” to demand institutional accountability. Talking to reporters ahead of the CJP’s core team meeting in his hometown Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar in Maharashtra, Dipke said the CJP members will travel to Jharkhand to back job aspirants, who have been staging an indefinite sit-in at Jaipal Singh Munda Stadium in Ranchi since July 29.

“People have lost faith in the judiciary, politics, media and the Election Commission. Our agitation received nationwide support. As the agitation grew, the support was not merely limited to education issues, it was also about these institutions. Hence, to bring accountability in these institutions, there is a need for a public pressure group,” Dipke said.

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A large number of job aspirants have been staging a protest in Ranchi, demanding that the alleged irregularities in the JPSC and other recruitment examinations be investigated by an independent panel of retired HC judges from outside Jharkhand.

Asked whether he will support the protest in Jharkhand, Dipke said, “We will definitely go to Jharkhand, we will stand with them and support their every demand in the agitation.”

On whether the CJP will enter politics, Dipke said the media seemed more excited than the outfit.

The condition of political parties is “very bad”. People vote for one side in the morning, but by evening a government is formed by someone else, he quipped.

“For now, CJP will be a pressure group, as what India needs now is a pressure group,” Dipke asserted.

On the CJP’s core team meeting, Dipke said, “The agitation at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi drew a nationwide response. The responsibility on us has increased, and people’s expectations from us have grown. In this meeting, we will decide how the organisation should grow and also outline a rough road map for the future.”

He said the meeting will focus on the dwindling trust of people in institutions like the media and judiciary and also take up issues like ethanol-blended fuel and rising unemployment.

CJP chief spokesperson Saurav Das said environmentalist and education activist Sonam Wangchuk will continue to be their mentor and they will seek advice from him.

Das further said they will push for withdrawal of FIRs against students who took part in the recent protests led by the CJP against the NEET paper leak and other exam irregularities.

“We are talking with government representatives on this issue,” he said.

Das also said they are working to provide legal and medical help to protesters injured in the recent students’ agitations across the country.

The CJP core team meeting later commenced its meeting, and it will continue on Thursday as well. “We will inform about the decisions by tomorrow,” Dipke said.

Apart from Dipke and Das, CJP representatives Ashutosh Ranka, Ratna Singh and others are attending the meeting.

The youth-led Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protests at Jantar Mantar in Delhi concluded on July 25. Thousands of student activists, joined by Wangchuk during his 26-day hunger strike, mobilised to express public anger over the alleged widespread competitive examination paper leaks.

Dipke returned to India from the US in June to lead an agitation against the NEET-UG paper leak that saw youth from different parts of the country converge in Delhi to demand reforms and resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan as the Union education minister.

The movement, which received an enthusiastic response from Gen Z across the country, led to Pradhan’s resignation last week.

The CJP’s movement spread across various cities in the country, but demonstrations turned violent, with the police cracking down on student agitators in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and in Bihar, registering cases against them.