07 June,2026 10:00 AM IST | New Delhi | Agencies
Hundreds of youngsters gathered at Jantar Mantar and demanded Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation. Pic/PTI
Hundreds of protesters gathered at Delhi's Jantar Mantar on Saturday under the banner of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), demanding Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation over alleged irregularities in examinations and recruitment tests, with founder Abhijeet Dipke delivering the message not to be "scared".
Addressing a press conference after the protest, CJP spokespersons 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."
Dipke arrived in Delhi from the United States on Saturday morning. After receiving permission from the Delhi Police, he reached Jantar Mantar.
Protesters were seen wearing cockroach masks, which were being distributed at the venue. The protesters also raised slogans demanding that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stop indulging in "Hindu-Muslim" politics and hailed the motherland with "Bharat Mata ki Jai" slogans.
Dipke was later joined by climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, CPI(ML) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, CPI's Annie Raja, and activists from Left student and youth organisations.
"My friends, this is a long struggle. It has been a month since we started demanding Pradhan's resignation on social media, but these individuals are so shameless that instead of taking action, they have been focussed on other distractions, like hacking our accounts and getting our posts deleted. You may be able to delete our posts, but you cannot erase us from this space," Dipke said during his address to the crowd, which energetically supported his words.
Recalling his arrival at the Indira Gandhi International Airport earlier in the morning, Dipke said just before his plane was about to land, he felt as though he was living his last moments of freedom. "I was fully prepared to sacrifice my freedom," he said. A majority of the participants were a mix of school and college students, and young professionals. Wangchuk said he was impressed with the youngsters and their peaceful protest. He also appreciated the fact that the government allowed the protest to be held. Wangchuk called Dipke the "Cockroach-in-Chief", and told the protesters, "You did not keep sitting at home crying nor are you creating any ruckus on the road." The protest was organised by the CJP, a youth-led online movement demanding accountability for alleged irregularities in examinations and recruitment tests, including the NEET, CBSE, CUET and SSC examinations.
More than 1000 police personnel were deployed and six people were detained by the Delhi Police.
Police have stepped up security at the residence of Abhijeet Dipke, founder of CJP, in Waluj MIDC area of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar city in Maharashtra, an officer said on Saturday. He said the security cover has been expanded to avoid unnecessary crowding as Dipke arrives in India. "If there is a need to deploy more manpower, we will do so after a review," said DCP (Zone 1) Pankaj Atulkar. A team of ten policemen with one officer have been deployed for now.
