After a recent protest at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar, the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) has announced a nationwide public-outreach programme in India.
The party’s founder, Abhijit Deepke, announced the programme, called “Kya Bolti Public,” on Thursday (6 August) in his home city of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. He said the programme was aimed at understanding people’s problems.
The CJP had begun its protest at New Delhi’s Jantar Mantar in June-July this year, demanding the resignation of then education minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the NEET question-paper leak. The protest ended after Dharmendra Pradhan resigned on 25 July.
On Thursday, along with Deepke, party spokesmen Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka set out the future strategy. Deepke said education would be a priority in their campaign, claiming that rising school, college and coaching fees had made it hard for many families to ensure quality education.
He also said people’s trust in various institutions was falling and anger was rising. “In the morning people vote for one party, and by evening that representative moves to another party. Somewhere votes are cast for one government, but later another government is formed. Otherwise, parties are broken up using the ED and CBI. If this goes on, it is dangerous for democracy,” he said.
Deepke also raised the question of accountability of the Election Commission and the judiciary. “Earlier, voters chose the government; now the government decides who will vote. Ordinary people’s cases face delayed hearings, but for the powerful they are quick — even held at midnight,” he alleged.
On allegations of irregularities in Jharkhand’s JPSC and JSSC exams, spokesman Ashutosh Ranka said the party stood with the protesting students, that a delegation would go to Ranchi to meet them and that top party leaders would visit later.
Answering a question about the nationwide campaign, Deepke said an organisation needed its own agenda but also had to know people’s views. He said the people who took part in the Jantar Mantar protest had themselves advised speaking about the Election Commission and judiciary alongside education, so broader public consultation was needed.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report