Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke raises stakes of protest: ‘Not here just for one resignation’

The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protest at Delhi's Jantar Mantar demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over alleged irregularities in NEET-UG 2026 entered its eleventh day on Tuesday, 30 June.

The protest has got support from Ladakh-based activist, Sonam Wangchuk, who is sitting on a hunger strike at the same venue amid hundreds of supporters.

Dipke began the protest at Jantar Mantar on 20 June. Since then, while he has had issued with throat, he seems steadfast with his resolve.

The only issue, for now, Dipke says is the reducing sugar levels of Wangchuk on third day of the hunger strike on Tuesday.

In an interview with LiveMint at Delhi's Jantar Mantar, CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke said the movement was not limited to the protest or the demand for a single resignation, but was aimed at changing India's "political discourse". He added that the campaign sought to bring about major reforms and would continue pursuing those objectives in the future.

The CJP founder said the removal of Pradhan would mark the CJP's first victory if the demand is met.

“We are not here just for the protest or just for one resignation. We are here to change the political discourse of India We are here for some major reforms that we will work on going forward,” Dipke told LiveMint.

“If Pradhan is sacked, that will be the first victory of the CJP, and this is just the beginning,” he asserted.

Dipke mentioned that the demand for a resignation was only the first step, noting that the movement was aimed at restoring a culture of accountability in the country.

He stressed the country had witnessed a lack of accountability over the past decade despite repeated tragedies involving students. He claimed that around 20 students had lost their lives, yet no one had accepted responsibility, adding that student suicides continued and stressing that the situation needed to be addressed.

Dipke slams Delhi Police

Dipke alleged that the Delhi Police was not cooperating with the protesters and accused it of attempting to weaken their morale by violating their basic human rights. He claimed the police's actions amounted to a violation of fundamental human rights.

“Delhi Police is not cooperating at all. They are trying to break down our moral by violating basic human rights," Dipke claimed.

"For example, first of all, they stopped our drinking water at the barricades. Secondly, the people who were bringing drinking water, at 9 or 10 in the night, the Delhi Police goes to their house and asks, where are you bringing the water from? When the water truck came here, the police were harassing the taxi driver. They were asking, where are you coming from? Who is paying for the water? What is the fault of the taxi driver?” he asked.

Dipke further alleged that the Delhi Police questioned people supporting the protest, including a tea vendor, and created hardships by restricting access to basic facilities such as clean washrooms and water.

“Secondly, yesterday, there was a tea vendor here, who runs a small tea business. He invited me over for a tea at Jantar Mantar itself. He is distributing tea to many people for free. So, I went to his tea stall. After that, I came to know that the police went to his house at night, to his godown, asking, why are you distributing tea? As far as washrooms are concerned, there are many female volunteers. So, we couldn't use the washroom, because the washrooms are still very dirty. The police is stopping the water from there," Dipke stated.

He claimed that the Delhi Police obstructed the installation of a portable washroom for Sonam Wangchuk, forcing protesters to agitate, and accused the force of violating basic human rights to undermine their morale.

“And when we asked for Sonam's washroom, because the washrooms are not functional, we didn't ask, we were arranging a portable washroom. For that also, the police refused. Yesterday, they refused the whole day. At 2 or 3 in the night, we had to protest. The police went outside the booth and asked, where is the washroom? So, the Delhi police is just violating basic human rights and trying to break our morals,” said Dipke who returned from US on 6 June after completing his master's degree in communication.