Gitanjali Angmo announced that Wangchuk had requested Dipke to break his fast because he needed the energy to continue the protest.
Abhijeet Dipke, the founder of Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), ended his hunger strike on Monday morning after a request from activist Sonam Wangchuk, who is still in hospital. Dipke drank juice after Gitanjali Angmo, an educator and Wangchuk’s wife, announced from the Jantar Mantar protest stage that Wangchuk had urged Dipke to break his fast because he needs energy to continue the protest. Soon after, Dipke and Angmo joined the protest march to Parliament. Along with them was the father of Riya Kumari, a NEET aspirant who died by suicide.
Dipke and Angmo climbed onto a small truck moving slowly towards Parliament as thousands of CJP supporters walked alongside. On a loudspeaker, Dipke raised the slogan, “Dharmendra Pradhan must resign.”
Saurav Das, one of the key faces of CJP has said in a post on X that the government has reached out for talks. “It’s 11:52 AM. Ashutosh Ranka and I, on behalf of the Cockroach Janta Party, are on our way to meet J.P. Nadda. The government had reached out for talks in the morning. Our demands are clear. The youth has gathered in huge numbers,” he said. As Das and Ranka went for the talks, the march was paused.
Dipke started a hunger strike on Saturday after Delhi Police removed Wangchuk from the Jantar Mantar protest and shifted him to Safdarjung Hospital, citing his health condition and the Delhi High Court’s directions to the government. Wangchuk has been on a 21-day hunger strike as part of the CJP’s protest in Jantar Mantar to demand the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over leaks of competitive exams’ question papers, including NEET-UG.
Thousands of youngsters from across the country have reached the national capital to join the CJP protest. On Monday morning, thousands of protesters marched towards the Parliament, where the Monsoon Session is set to begin, to press their demands. At least five stations of the Delhi Metro have been closed for security reasons.
Delhi Police, determined not to let the protesters reach Parliament, have turned the area into a fortress. As many as 32 companies of paramilitary forces – about 2,000 security personnel – are on the ground, armed with riot control gear and teargas shells. Additionally, Delhi Police have asked for 1,400 more cops to boost its cordon after the number of protesters swelled.
Earlier, about four hours before the march to Parliament was to begin, CJP spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka climbed the protest stage and listed the slogans the protesters should raise. “Bharat Mata ki Jai, Inquilab Zindabad, and Dharmendra Pradhan istifa do… We will raise only these slogans,” he said. “We still have four hours to write history. There may be people who try to provoke you, but our protest has remained peaceful for the past 30 days, and the march will take place in the same manner,” Ranka warned.
