New Delhi: Addressing hundreds of CJP supporters at Jantar Mantar in the national capital, party founder Abhijeet Dipke said there was a religious divide in the country that should be eliminated. “The Hindu-Muslim division has not benefited anyone,” he said.
He also joked about BJP allegations of funding from Hungarian-born American billionaire investor George Soros (who is also alleged by the BJP to be linked to the Congress). “Could get only one speaker with Soros funding,” he said.
He also said his family had been tense about his trip to India. “My mother and sister have been crying, they did not want me to come back fearing I would be arrested,” he said.
He warned protesters to be careful with slogans, as they did not want “what happened in JNU with Kanhaiya”.
Despite the June heat, at Jantar Mantar, hundreds of protesters gathered today as the CJP held its first major demonstration, demanding the resignation of Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the NEET-UG paper leak and broader examination irregularities.
Protesters carried posters mocking the education ministry’s ‘inability’ to conduct successful entrance examinations.
“My sister, my friends, they’re all preparing for NEET. So many aspirants commit suicide, no one is held responsible for their deaths,” said Lakshay Verma, a college student who has from Alwar, Rajasthan, to join the protest.
“Students of this country demand justice. We demand accountability,” says Verma, holding a photo of Bhagat Singh in his hands.
Wearing cockroach masks, protesters chanted, “Dharmendra Pradhan, isteefa do (resign)”. Many protesters gave flowers to security personnel deployed to control and manage the crowds. The party leaders, on social media, had called for protesters to be peaceful.
Dipke’s history with AAP
The Cockroach Janta Party was founded on May 16, 2026, by Abhijeet Dipke, a 30-year-old political communications strategist after Chief Justice Surya Kant compared unemployed youth to “cockroaches” and “parasites”.
Dipke previously worked with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) from 2020 to 2023, primarily in its social media team and as a communications adviser in Delhi government’s education department. While he openly acknowledges this association, he maintains he has had no links with the party since moving to the US for higher studies in 2023.
At the protest site Saturday, CJP leaders, including Dipke and Sourav Das, were surrounded by protesters and media personnel.
The crowd was mostly college students, reflecting the movement’s strong Gen-Z and millennial base.
“Our students spend months and years preparing for competitive exams, only to be let down by systemic failure,” says Prabha Singh, a teacher who had joined the protest. Singh talks about the discontent faced by her students who sat for NEET, only for the results to be discredited because of the exam leak.
“Entrance exams in the country are already so competitive. So many students apply for only a handful of seats. Institutional failure, amidst all of it, is unacceptable,” says Singh, demanding government accountability.
This protest marks a significant shift for CJP from online virality to street mobilisation, testing its ability to channel digital discontent into sustained pressure.
For India’s vast cohort of examination-weary youth, the “cockroaches” have signalled they are not easily crushed.
(Edited by Viny Mishra)
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