NEW DELHI: Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke on Friday shared a photo on X with the caption, “Charging up,” after being away from the protest site at Jantar Mantar for a few hours due to illness.The post came a day after Dipke informed supporters that he had been suffering from fever and severe body pain but had continued participating in the ongoing agitation by relying on painkillers.In a post on Thursday, Dipke wrote, “I’ve been down with a fever and severe body pain for the last few days, but I’ve been pushing through with painkillers.”Apologising for his temporary absence from the protest, he added, “My apologies if you don’t see me at Jantar Mantar today. I need to get a few hours of rest and recover. Will be back at the protest site by evening.”On Friday, Dipke also thanked activist Sonam Wangchuk after he ended his 26-day hunger strike.“We are relieved and grateful that Sonam sir has ended his hunger strike after 26 days,” Dipke wrote on X.“Thank you, sir, for your extraordinary courage and sacrifice. By putting your own life on the line, you awakened the conscience of an entire nation. Your life is far too precious to this country.”He added that the party’s protest would continue despite Wangchuk ending his fast.“The Cockroach Janta Party’s peaceful protest at Jantar Mantar will continue until Dharmendra Pradhan resigns,” Dipke said.Dipke has emerged as one of the key faces of the agitation, which intensified after the July 20 ‘Sansad Chalo’ march that witnessed clashes between protesters and the Delhi Police.Cockroach Janata Party calls for nationwide peaceful protests on July 24The Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) on Thursday called for nationwide peaceful protests on Friday (July 24), demanding the resignation of Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the alleged NEET-UG 2026 paper leak.In a post on X, the party shared a poster urging people across the country to join the demonstrations. It also appealed to student unions and other organisations to coordinate with one another, obtain the necessary permissions, arrange logistics, and publicly read out the students’ demands during the protests.The development comes amid ongoing youth protests led by the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP), which is demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the alleged NEET paper leak that affected lakhs of students across the country.CJP founding president Abhijeet Dipke issued a stern warning to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to accept Pradhan’s resignation. He said that if the minister was not removed, the protests would escalate beyond demanding Pradhan’s resignation to also seeking the Prime Minister’s resignation.Dipke said, “Modi ji, I once again request you to accept Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation. Otherwise, the issue will not remain limited to Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation alone; it will come for your resignation also.”Further calling Pradhan an “incompetent and failed” minister, Dipke said that he cannot be more important than crores of people.“An incompetent and failed minister cannot be more important than the crores of students in this country. If a failed and incompetent minister is being considered more important than these crores of students, then remember: no one in India will vote for you in the elections,” he said.The protests, led by Wangchuk and the CJP, are demanding the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan over the alleged NEET paper leak controversy. The sit-in at Jantar Mantar has continued despite heightened security, police action against demonstrators and repeated disruptions during Parliament’s Monsoon Session, with Opposition parties backing the demand for a discussion on the issue.
