19 July,2026 07:41 AM IST | New Delhi | Agencies
Abhijit Dipke vowed to go ahead with the planned Parliament march on July 20. Pic/PTI
Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke began an indefinite hunger strike on Saturday shortly after Delhi Police interrupted activist Sonam Wangchuk's 21-day-old fast and forcefully whisked him to Safdarjung Hospital from their Jantar Mantar protest site.
Following the police action, the youth-led outfit escalated its agitation, demanding Prime Minister Narendra Modi's resignation and vowing to press ahead with its planned Parliament march on July 20.
"I am starting an indefinite hunger strike beginning right now," Dipke said in a post on X after Wangchuk was taken to the hospital. In another post, CJP raised the pitch of its protest, saying, "Modi must resign!"
The outfit, which has so far been demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, said the movement would continue despite Wangchuk's removal from the protest site.
CJP spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka said, "We are at Jantar Mantar, where some time ago Sonam Wangchuk was manhandled and forcefully removed. In the morning, people take a 10-15 minute break to freshen up. Delhi Police committed this cowardly act at that time⦠This is a fight to save the country. We should not go back."
Wangchuk was forcefully shifted to Safdarjung Hospital early Saturday, with Delhi Police citing expert medical advice and directions of the Delhi High Court after his health deteriorated on the 21st day of his indefinite fast.
Despite Wangchuk's hospitalisation, the protest continued at Jantar Mantar, with All India Students' Association (AISA) activists Neha, Aameen and Manish continuing their indefinite hunger strike in solidarity with the movement.
Wangchuk has been on an hunger strike since June 28 in protest over alleged irregularities in the NEET examination and the reported deaths of students linked to the controversy.
Wangchuk has refused intravenous fluids, oral rehydration solution, authorities said on Saturday. Wangchuk's wife, Gitanjali J Angmo, alleged that Safdarjung Hospital has declined to share copies of medical reports with her.
A woman hurled an ink-like liquid at Abhijeet Dipke while he was addressing a gathering at Jantart Mantar. The woman's identity and the motive were not immediately known. Police sources said that she has been detained.
Students from Maharashtra's Beed district have alleged discrepancies between marks calculated using the NTA official answer key and their final NEET-UG 2026 re-examination scores. Soham Gavte's family said he expected 522 marks, but his scorecard showed 95. Another candidate, Dnyaneshwari Pawar, alleged that the OMR sheet uploaded under her credentials was not hers.
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