Activist Sonam Wangchuk on Friday rejected allegations that he had cut a deal with the Union government to end his hunger strike a day earlier.

This came as the Cockroach Janta Party political campaign continued its demonstrations at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar protest site to demand the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over alleged irregularities in the conduct of competitive exams.

Solidarity protests were held in several cities on Friday.

Here’s more on this and other updates:

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Sonam Wangchuk rejects ‘deal’ allegations

  • In a video message on Friday night, Wangchuk said that he did not press for Pradhan’s resignation because it had become inevitable because of the ongoing protests. “Instead, I focused on getting justice for the students and young people against whom FIRs [first information reports] have been registered,” he said.
  • The activist had ended his fast after midnight on Friday in the presence of Union ministers JP Nadda and Jitendra Singh. Wangchuk said that he wanted Opposition MPs and members of the Cockroach Janta Party to meet him in hospital but that they had not been allowed.

Delhi metro stations closed, Jantar Mantar protest continues

  • The protest at Jantar Mantar continued on Saturday. Abhijeet Dipke, the founder of the Cockroach Janta Party, said that he had been diagnosed with typhoid, but “the fight will go on” until Pradhan resigns.
  • Meanwhile, 18 Delhi metro stations were closed at 7.30 am on Saturday till further instructions. The stations include Lok Kalyan Marg, which is near the prime minister’s residence, and Patel Chowk and Janpath that are near Jantar Mantar.
  • The other stations were Rajiv Chowk, Ramakrishna Ashram Marg, Barakhambha Road, Supreme Court, Central Secretariat, Seva Teerth, Mandi House, ITO, Delhi Gate, Indraprastha, Khan Market, Jor Bagh, Shivaji Stadium, Jhandewalan and New Delhi. However, the interchange facility was available at Rajiv Chowk, Mandi House and Central Secretariat.

‘Consensus needed, not orders,’ says RSS chief

  • Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat on Friday said that there needs to be a conversation with the young generation and orders cannot be dictated to them. They ask questions and they need to be given reasons, Bhagwat said at an event. The RSS is the parent organisation of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
  • “We need to give them a lot of affection,” ABP News quoted Bhagwat as saying. “They need to be given time. There’s a need for a conversation. Discussion, not dictation. Consensus, not [giving] order.”

Modi thanks youth for ‘constructive suggestions’ after Instagram video

  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday night thanked the youth for watching a selfie video he had posted on social media platform Instagram a day earlier. In a fresh video, Modi thanked the viewers for sharing “constructive suggestions”.

More security personnel deployed in Delhi

Bengal CM meets injured journalists, police personnel

  • West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Friday night met the police personnel and journalists injured in an “attack by miscreants” at Kolkata. The Bharatiya Janata Party leader said that he condemns the attack.
  • The injured journalists are being treated at a hospital in Kolkata. “Strict legal action will be taken against all the culprits involved,” Adhikari said.
  • On Friday, Left student organisations and members of the Cockroach Janta Party held a rally from Sealdah to Esplanade demanding Pradhan’s resignation, the dissolution of the National Testing Agency and action against the police crackdown in Delhi.
  • Clashes broke out after some protesters blocked the Dorina Crossing intersection, PTI reported. Protesters allegedly threw shoes and water bottles at the police, who responded with a lathi-charge and tear gas, the news agency quoted an unidentified police officer as having alleged.

The agitation in the national capital began on June 6, when the Cockroach Janta Party began a protest at Jantar Mantar.

On July 19, thousands joined the protest in Delhi after the police forcibly took activist Sonam Wangchuk, who had been on a hunger strike, to hospital. A march to Parliament on Monday was met with a crackdown by the police. Dozens were injured as the police used lathis, fired tear gas shells and pellet guns against the demonstrators.

The police action turbocharged the agitation, which soon spread to other parts of the country.

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Edited by Nachiket Deuskar.

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