PUNE: Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke on Thursday announced the launch of a nationwide campaign over alleged examination irregularities and said the movement would culminate in a major protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on June 20, where demonstrators would remain until union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigns.Addressing a press conference in Pune, Dipke said the group would release its education manifesto later in the day alongside a peaceful protest on the campus of Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU). Climate activist Sonam Wangchuk is also expected to participate in the event.“We are starting our nationwide protest from SPPU today. The protest will be peaceful and within the framework of the Constitution. Today, we will also release our education manifesto,” Dipke said.According to him, the manifesto focuses on preventing question paper leaks, ensuring timely declaration of examination results, improving transparency in recruitment and entrance examinations, strengthening accountability of examination authorities, and addressing hardships faced by students due to delays and irregularities in examinations.Dipke said the campaign would travel through several cities, including Jaipur, Lucknow, Amritsar and Bengaluru, before converging at Jantar Mantar on June 20.“We will not return until we get the resignation of the education minister, who is responsible for jeopardising the future of more than one crore students,” he claimed.Dipke said the group was open to dialogue with the government but alleged that instead of engaging with its concerns, authorities had suspended CJP‘s social media accounts.“CJP is a message for the country. The government cannot ignore the youth. Instead of calling us fake, it should try to understand the issues and problems faced by young people,” he said.The group has gained visibility in recent weeks through social media campaigns focused on examination-related issues and has sought to position itself as a youth-led platform advocating reforms in the education sector.On June 6, CJP organised a protest at Jantar Mantar, where students and young people from different parts of the country gathered to demand accountability over alleged irregularities in competitive examinations and seek Pradhan’s resignation. The June 20 mobilisation is expected to be the culmination of the group’s nationwide outreach campaign.
