Cockroach Janta Party releases manifesto on exam reforms at Pune protest

The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) on Thursday staged a protest at the Ambedkar statue at Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) in Maharashtra’s Pune, releasing a five-point manifesto recommending reforms in the examination process across the country.

The CJP, which began with a satirical social media post in response to a critical remark by the Chief Justice of India last month, is fast evolving into a mass movement of youth focussed on grievances with the examination system and demanding the resignation of the Union Education Minister.

CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke presented the movement’s manifesto, which demanded compensation of ₹10,000 per candidate in the event of a paper leak to cover preparation and travel expenses; declaration of results within one month of an examination; advance announcement of backup dates whenever an examination is cancelled to reduce mental stress on students; physical evaluation of answer sheets instead of assessments based on digital scans; a guarantee that examination delays will not affect candidates due to age limits nor reduce their number of attempts; and an independent body to audit examination tenders.

Indefinite protest from June 20

“If they are not ready for simple resignation and admit the mistake, then how can we expect them to fix the education system. It starts with admitting a mistake,” Mr. Dipke said.. Announcing that he would start an indefinite protest in Delhi on June 20, he appealed to students to join him.

Mr. Dipke and other CJP supporters also plan to campaign across the country to create credibility for their assurance that “this movement can do something”. Mr. Dipke added: “It has been just 15 days, give us time to decide on the course of action. If you have given 12 years of time to people in power, give us at least 12 weeks.”

‘Is student or Minister more important?’

During Thursday’s protest at SPPU, the CJP demanded the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the paper leak that caused the cancellation of NEET-UG, the medical entrance examination, and the evaluation issues of the Central Board of Secondary Education’s Class 12 examination.

Highlighting the stubbornness of the BJP-led Union government, Mr. Dipke asked: “Who is more important, a student or a Minister? If you don’t leave him, students will get you transferred. People are no longer tolerant.”

“The government must take accountability for their mistakes for which students are paying the cost,” said Ladakhi activist Sonam Wangchuk who participated in the protest. Several other social activists, including Aseem Sarode, also extended their support to the CJP during the SPPU agitation, raising slogans such as ‘Zimmedari leni hogi (Responsibility must be taken)’ and ‘I am cockroach’.

‘Only IT cell is Indian’

Calling the movement “accidental, Mr. Dipke said, “On the day I tweeted on CJP, and it broke out of proportion, I was applying for a job. I was happy there, but the response made me think on these lines.”

On the accusation that the CJP’s followers are bots, Mr Dipke said, “It was BJP Minister Kiren Rijiju, who tweeted that half of the followers are Pakistani. I shared the screenshot of the followers’ details, which shows 94.5% are from India. Why are you calling them Pakistani? If CBSE students are Pakistani, journalists who question the government are Pakistani, I am a national threat, then who is Indian? Only the [BJP] IT cell.”

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut extended best wishes to the CJP and expressed his hope for the youth movement’s success. “The CJP is the anger and frustration of Indian youth; these youth should not be deceived—instead, that anger needs to be expressed in a more effective and planned manner,” he said in a post on X, even while advocating caution to prevent the Sangh Parivar’s influence from infiltrating the movement.