‘Amit Shah should definitely resign’: CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke backs Rahul Gandhi's demand over police action

Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke on Thursday claimed orders to use force against students during the 20 July "Sansad Chalo" march must have come from Union Home Minister Amit Shah and sought his resignation over the police crackdown.

Talking to reporters at his residence in his hometown, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar in central Maharashtra, he said democracy was in "danger" in the country and questions were being raised even on judiciary, while central probe agencies were being used to break political parties.

"Saving democracy is not merely an Opposition issue now. The people of the country will have to come together (to save it)," Dipke insisted on his return home after more than a month-long CJP-led protest in New Delhi's Jantar Mantar over the NEET exam paper leak, which culminated in the resignation of then-Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

Dipke supported the demand for Shah's resignation made by Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi.

“The way students were attacked, and their blood was shed while they were protesting, could not have happened without Shah’s orders,” Dipke told journalists in his home town.

"Amit Shah should definitely resign. There is another thing being said: that the Cockroach Janta Party is receiving funding from outside or that the movement is being run from outside. If this is happening then it reflects the failure of a person like Amit Shah. If the CJP is being run from outside then what kind of 'Chanakya' is he? The order to use force against students on July 20 must have been issued by Amit Shah and no one else,'' Dipke claimed.

‘Accused Shah of ordering crackdown on protesters’

Dipke’s demand came a day after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi accused Shah of ordering the crackdown on the protesters and demanded his resignation. He said he seconded Gandhi.

Gandhi has accused Home Minister Amit Shah of authorising police excesses against student protesters.

“The home minister is not here today because he is scared,” Gandhi said, drawing objections from the treasury benches during the debate on anti-paper leak bill in Lok Sabha on Wednesday

The home minister ‘authorised’ police action against students, the Congress leader alleged, referring to the crackdown by security forces during the CJP march to Parliament on 20 July over the NEET paper leak issue.

Later, addressing a press conference, Rahul Gandhi urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to sack Home Minister Amit Shah and demanded a Supreme Court-monitored probe into the "brutalities".

Either Shah ordered that the student be shot with pellet guns and beaten with lathis with nails, or he was unaware, Gandhi said, referring to the crackdown by security forces during the 20 July Cockroach Janta Party-led protest march to Parliament.

"If he ordered it, he is culpable and if he did not know then he is incompetent," Gandhi said at a press conference.

The 30-year-old activist criticized the appointment of Pralhad Joshi as new Education Minister and called him a "weird" man.

"If the Education Minister of the country applauds rapists, this means another weird man has been brought in after removing Dharmendra Pradhan. What message is being given to the country? They cannot do anything else because their party is full of goons. People like Ram Rahim (a rape convict) come out on parole during their tenure. This government supports goons and rapists,'' he alleged.

‘Delhi Police brought trucks filled with stones’

Dipke alleged the Delhi Police brought trucks filled with stones near the agitation place (Jantar Mantar) and later falsely claimed it was debris from a construction site.

"Trucks filled with stones were brought by the Delhi Police on Jul 19 and 20 morning at around 5:30. I have seen that personally. A damaged van was also brought and parked there. I asked the police about it and also made an X post questioning this.

"This was part of a plan by the police to show that the agitating students did stone pelting. I also met the DCP (of the area) over it and I was told the truck was carrying debris from a construction site. This all may have been part of a plan by BJP goons and the Delhi Police,'' he alleged.

(With agency inputs)