Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke has broken his silence on the funding of his foreign education.
Dipke, who returned to India in June before leading one of the biggest protest movements in India, did Master of Science in Public Relations in the College of Communication at Boston University in Massachusetts, US.
“I received scholarship form Boston University and took an education loan to fund the rest of my expenses. I have to pay the loan,” Dipke told Barkha Dutt in an interview with MOJO, amid questions about funding of his foreign education.
Dipke also shared a scholarship document with information about the funding with Dutt. The document showed that Boston University awarded a Dean's Scholarship of $12,500 per semester for three semesters, amounting to $37,500 to Dipke.
Dipke's response came after a Gujarat-based RTI activist sought details about his foreign education funding.
Dipke also opened about funding of CJP during the Jantar Mantar protests and in the future. “We will raise funds thriugh crowd-funding,” Dipke told Barkha Dutt adding that the CJP would be transparent about it.
Dipke also reiterated that people came to Jantar Mantar to distribute food on their own. He said even the low-rung cops in Delhi police were sympethetic towards the protest.
“I won't lie to you, three people covering their faces with masks came to us and told us that they were thankful for the protests. Lower ranks were sympathetic towards us, the higher ranks were taking orders from Home Ministry,” he said.
Amit Tiwari from Surat told news agency ANI that he had sought an investigation into the finances of Bhagwanrao Dipke, the CJP founder's father. He questioned how Bhagwanrao, a junior engineer earning a “salary of ₹60,000-65,000 a month”, could afford to send his son abroad for higher education.
"I have complained to the Maharashtra Government that Bhagwanrao Dipke was a Junior Engineer at MIDC. So, if he received a salary of ₹60,000-65,000, how was he able to afford the education of his children in the US?" he was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
The activist also wrote to the Election Commission of India and the Central GST over the legal defence fund announced by senior advocate and Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal.
"The Cockroach Janta Party is an unregistered entity but is operating as a political party....If ₹1 crore has been pledged to it as a legal defence fund, then the EC should verify whether the CJP is registered with it under section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951," he told news agencies.
Lat month, senior advocate and indpendent MP Kapil Sibal announced a contribution of ₹1 crore to a fund set up by the CJP to provide legal assistance to protesters arrested by Delhi Police during the recent protests.
Dipke, 30, become the public face of the massive protests by Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) after returning from the United States.
The movement that started as a satirical response to ‘Cockroach’ comment by Chief Justice of India eventually led to the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
Dipke studied journalism in Pune before moving to the United States for higher studies. He had said before that after completing the Master's degree at Boston University, he had been looking for job opportunities.
Dipke's father worked as an engineer with Maharashtra's electricity department before retirement, while his mother continues to run a small home tuition centre.
Between 2020 and 2023, Dipke worked with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), where he handled social media strategy and election campaigns. During the 2020 Delhi Assembly elections, he was actively involved in meme-based digital campaigns of the Aam Aadmi Party aimed at engaging young voters and communicating political messages. AAP won Delhi elections in 2020.
(With inputs from ANI)
