The Cockroach Janta Party will be “forced to continue” its protest if Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan is not removed or does not resign within seven days, said the founder of the satirical political campaign, Abhijeet Dipke, on Sunday.
His statement came a day after the Cockroach Janta Party launched a protest at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar to demand Pradhan’s resignation over alleged mismanagement in the conduct of competitive exams.
“Yesterday, thousands of us made history,” Dipke said in a social media post. “Our peaceful protest at Jantar Mantar showed the government a trailer of what cockroaches are capable of when we unite.”
He added: “But this doesn't end here.”
Speaking to reporters from Maharashtra’s Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district later, Dipke said the “agitation would go nationwide”, reported PTI.
“We will roll out a further action plan to take this agitation nationwide,” the news agency quoted him as saying.
The protest on Saturday had been held in the wake of the cancellation of the undergraduate National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for medical college admissions following allegations of a paper leak.
Students and job seekers have also alleged irregularities in the Class 12 exam conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education and the Staff Selection Commission test for government posts.
The Cockroach Janta Party describes itself as a “political front of the youth, by the youth, for the youth”.
It was launched on May 16 in response to reports of remarks by Chief Justice Surya Kant on the previous day comparing some unemployed youngsters to “cockroaches”. Since then, the campaign has garnered more than 22 million followers on Instagram.
The chief justice claimed on May 16 that he had been misquoted by sections of the media and that it was baseless to say that he criticised young people in general. Kant claimed he had specifically criticised “those who have entered professions like the Bar [legal profession] with the aid of fake and bogus degrees”.
Written by Sara Varghese. Edited by Sneha.
Also read:
- ‘They have sold themselves’: At ‘cockroach’ gathering in Delhi, protestors rage against the system
- Does Abhijeet Dipke’s popularity signal a new age of Dalit leaders?
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