CJP Chief Abhijeet Dipke Takes On BJP, Calls Nitin Nabin A "Puppet"

Hundreds gathered at Delhi's Jantar Mantar on Saturday as Cockroach Janta Party supporters pressed for education minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation over alleged exam irregularities, while leaders warned that the CJP protest could soon spread nationwide if the government did not act within a week.

The CJP protest focused on reported paper leaks and alleged failures in several entrance and recruitment examinations, with organisers insisting that Dharmendra Pradhan either step down on moral grounds or be removed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, arguing that public trust in national assessments had been damaged.

CJP protest ultimatum and demand for Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation

After hours of slogans in the intense Delhi heat, CJP leaders ended the Jantar Mantar gathering by issuing a seven-day deadline, as spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka said, "We are giving the government seven days. Either Dharmendra Pradhan should resign respectfully or Prime Minister Narendra Modi should sack him. If his resignation does not come within seven days, this movement will spread throughout the country," and added, "The time has come to reset our education system and we have started that reset today," outlining plans to take the CJP protest to other states if there was no response.

Organisers described the CJP protest as the start of a larger push on exam integrity, saying the agitation would widen beyond Delhi if the demand for Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation remained ignored, and linked the movement to broader anger among students and job seekers over alleged leaks in high-stakes recruitment and entrance tests.

CJP protest and Abhijeet Dipke’s message to youth

CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke, who travelled from the United States to join the CJP protest, repeatedly told the assembled crowd that the youth of India was not "scared", urging students to keep questioning those in power over exam conduct and government accountability while maintaining peaceful methods.

Dipke, a student at Boston University in the US, recounted how his mother cried more when he decided to fly back for the CJP protest than when he first left India, because she feared arrest over his political stand and his earlier public worry that returning after launching the party could lead to detention.

Sharing those concerns with the crowd at Jantar Mantar, Dipke said, "This is not just the fear of my mother, this is the fear of the parents of any youngster who speaks on politics.... How long will we live in fear? Tell them, we are not scared," and explained that as the plane neared Delhi he felt the remaining minutes of freedom might be slipping away, stating, "I was fully prepared to sacrifice my freedom for this cause," even though he was not detained on arrival and Delhi Police later granted permission for the CJP protest.

BJP response to CJP protest and claims about youth politics

Responding indirectly to the CJP protest and its leadership, Bharatiya Janata Party chief Nitin Nabin argued that the country’s youth was nobody’s "puppet", saying in Ranchi that "some people sitting abroad assume they can give directions to the youths of India," in a clear reference to Abhijeet Dipke’s activism and overseas base.

Nabin said, "Today's youths want to work towards nation-building and secure their future. But some forces are trying to make the country's youths anti-establishment," while warning those steering students towards "negative politics" that young people would instead back "positive politics".

The BJP leader added that dissent must stay within constitutional limits, saying that while opposition was a right, "The anti-establishment campaigns we witnessed in our neighbouring countries can never be for the country's youths, who will work in a disciplined manner to build the nation," as he contrasted the CJP protest with what he described as responsible engagement.

By the end of Saturday, the CJP protest at Jantar Mantar had closed peacefully, with no arrests of leaders such as Abhijeet Dipke, but tensions remained over alleged exam paper leaks, the demand for Dharmendra Pradhan’s exit, and the possibility that the CJP protest could extend across India if the government did not respond within the announced seven-day window.