Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke on Thursday alleged that the order to use force against students during the July 20 "Sansad Chalo" march
must have come from Union Home Minister Amit Shah. He also backed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's demand for Shah's resignation over the police crackdown. Speaking to reporters at his residence in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar after returning from the month-long CJP-led protest at Delhi's Jantar Mantar over the alleged NEET paper leak, Dipke claimed democracy was in "danger" and accused central agencies of being used to target Opposition parties. Calling for public support, he said, "Saving democracy is not merely an Opposition issue now. The people of the country will have to come together (to save it)." He further alleged, "There is a question mark even on judiciary. We all have seen how ED and CBI were used to break parties like the Shiv Sena and the NCP. The big institutions in the country had a duty to keep democracy alive and not create dictatorship of a single man. They let it happen. To stop this, not only the Opposition, but even the people will have to come together."
Targets Amit Shah, Pralhad Joshi and Ramdev
Dipke also criticised the appointment of Pralhad Joshi as the new Union Education Minister, calling him a "weird" choice.
He alleged, "If the Education Minister of the country applauds rapists, this means another weird man has been brought in after removing Dharmendra Pradhan. What message is being given to the country? They cannot do anything else because their party is full of goons. People like Ram Rahim (a rape convict) come out on parole during their tenure. This government supports goons and rapists."
Responding to Yoga guru Ramdev's remarks that Gen Z had defamed India's culture through the protests, Dipke defended the agitation.
"We have fought for our rights against the paper leak in a constitutional way. If agitating with photos of Mahatma Gandhi and B R Ambedkar in a legal way is defaming culture, we have done it. Baba Ramdev should look into Patanjali about which the Supreme Court has made adverse comments in the past," he said.
He added, "Gen Z can handle the country and its culture well. He (Ramdev) should concentrate on Patanjali else it may go out of business."
Backing Rahul Gandhi's demand for Amit Shah's resignation, Dipke claimed, "Amit Shah should definitely resign. There is another thing being said: that the Cockroach Janta Party is receiving funding from outside or that the movement is being run from outside. If this is happening then it reflects the failure of a person like Amit Shah. If the CJP is being run from outside then what kind of 'Chanakya' is he? The order to use force against students on July 20 must have been issued by Amit Shah and no one else."
Claims Delhi Police Planned 'Stone-Pelting' Narrative
Dipke said the CJP would also support farmers if they sought the party's help in future protests.
"Farmers also want their children to have successful careers. Earlier they stood with us in our agitation. If farmer leaders require our support, we will stand with them. Wherever farmers need us, we will stand with them. I also belong to a farmer family. Many of us are from farmer families," he said.
He also accused the police of acting on behalf of the BJP instead of following the Constitution.
Mocking the police, Dipke said, "If not, they (police force) should switch to 'khaki chaddi' (half pants) and stand before the BJP headquarters, saying 'main bhi chowkidar'."
He added, "If the police fear video recording from agitators, that means they have something wrong going on in their minds. Cameras were there on my face round the clock (during Delhi stir), but I did not fear. The police in this country should follow the Constitution. They don't belong to a party but they belong to the country. They are not those who will run on BJP's WhatsApp forwards."
Dipke also alleged that Delhi Police had brought trucks carrying stones near Jantar Mantar before the July 20 protest to build a false narrative of violence.
He claimed, "Trucks filled with stones were brought by the Delhi Police on Jul 19 and 20 morning at around 5:30. I have seen that personally. A damaged van was also brought and parked there. I asked the police about it and also made an X post questioning this."
He further alleged, "This was part of a plan by the police to show that the agitating students did stone pelting. I also met the DCP (of the area) over it and I was told the truck was carrying debris from a construction site. This all may have been part of a plan by BJP goons and the Delhi Police."
