Our demands are clear, we want Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation: CJP's Ashutosh Ranka

The Cockroach Janta Party CJP on Thursday reiterated its demand for the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan as studentled protests over alleged examination paper leaks continued at Jantar Mantar in the national capitalAddressing reporters CJP representative Ashutosh Ranka said the protest had evolved into a nationwide movement and maintained that the groups key demand remained unchanged He added that while the protesters were willing to hold discussions with the government they expected concrete action rather than prolonged negotiationsCJP says protest has gained nationwide supportRanka claimed the movement which began around oneandahalf months ago had expanded significantly and attracted support from people across the countryA movement started 15 months ago It has awakened the whole nation Jainism has awakened The movement started 33 days ago But you can see that Jantar Mantar is still full Thousands of people are outside Jantar Mantar Millions of people are protesting all over the country This is a great success of the movement he saidHis remarks came as protesters continued their sitin at Jantar Mantar demanding accountability over alleged examination irregularitiesProtesters insist Education Ministers resignation is nonnegotiableRanka said the protesters remained open to talks with the Centre but questioned the purpose of further discussions when according to him their demands had already been made clearBut if they want to talk they can come We wanted to talk two days ago We have wasted our time there If they want to talk they can come Why are they wasting our time Our demands are clear We want the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan he saidHe further added Will you remove him or not You cannot suspend the Cabinet Minister Remove him or not What is the discussion aboutProtest leaders outline timeline of talksRanka said the protesters had communicated their position to the government in a structured manner and had informed the media after their discussionsWe have given clear timelines We are educated and sensible people We talk logically We dont talk nonsense Our phones were confiscated between 12 and 2 We had our first meeting at 215 This is the first round of discussion We got our phones at 230 We have updated the media he saidHe also claimed that Union Health Minister JP Nadda had presented the governments perspective during the meeting but argued that the protest would end only if the concerns raised by demonstrators were addressedJP Nadda has spread his narrative But if he tries to address the issue we dont have to sit here he saidProtesters raise concerns over Sonam Wangchuks healthRanka said activist Sonam Wangchuks vital parameters remained stable but expressed concern that his overall health was deteriorating because of his ongoing hunger strikeSonam Wangchuks health is not good His vitals are stable but his health is deteriorating He is worried that police brutality may be repeated He is worried that if police brutality is not repeated we may file a case against the protesters Ranka saidThe protesters also demanded compensation of Rs 1 crore the resignation of the Union Education Minister and an assurance that no action would be taken against those participating in the agitationThey have put a demand to ask for a compensation of Rs 1 crore We have asked for the same thing We have asked for a compensation of Rs 1 crore and for the resignation of Pradhan Thirdly no action should be taken against any protester he saidVolunteers deployed to maintain peaceful protestOn security arrangements at the protest site Ranka said the organisation had formed a volunteer team to help maintain order and prevent any untoward incidents He added that more volunteers would be deployed as the protest continuedWe have a volunteer team We are expanding it We will deploy more volunteers We will try to minimise this The government has the power to negotiate We are ordinary people We are sleeping here You can come and talk to us he saidSeparately CJP representative Abhijeet Dipke alleged that outsiders were being sent to disrupt the protest and claimed that Bharatiya Janata Party BJP workers were attempting to defame the movement by provoking violencePeople are being sent from outside to deliberately disrupt the protest We have been sitting here for a month No such incident has happened in a month But now as this protest has grown goons are being sent from outside by the BJP to deliberately incite people Dipke saidThe BJP has not responded to these allegations in the statement provided by ANICentre reiterates readiness for Parliament discussionEarlier on Wednesday Union Health Minister and Leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha JP Nadda said the issue of examination paper leaks should not be politicised and described it as a serious matter requiring detailed deliberationNadda said the government was prepared to discuss all aspects of the alleged NEETUG paper leak in Parliament and reiterated the Centres willingness to hold a comprehensive discussion on measures to strengthen the examination systemWith inputs from ANI