Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka has called for organisations across demographics to oppose the BJP-led NDA government to corner it on common issues. “We hope that our farmers, and the students and youth of this country work together to corner the (Narendra) Modi government from all sides,” Ranka said, in Hindi, as he addressed Samyukta Kisan Morcha’s (SKM) all-India conference in Delhi on Tuesday, just days after the CJP’s Jantar Mantar protest led to resignation of senior BJP leader Dharmendra Pradhan as education minister.
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The CJP, formed by Abhijeet Dipke in response to some comments by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant in May, has warned it could launch a nationwide agitation with farm and youth groups if the FIRs were not withdrawn against those protesting against the NEET-UG paper leak and related issues.
The CJP-led stir, a 36-day sit-in at Jantar Mantar that saw violent police action near Parliament on July 20, ended on July 25 with Pradhan’s resignation over the NEET-UG paper leak, alongside government commitments on compensation for families of students who died by suicide and a promise of no FIRs against protesters.
The SKM conference, where Ranka spoke, adopted seven core demands, including scrapping the India-US Free Trade Agreement and all other FTAs, a law guaranteeing MSP, a farm-debt waiver, withdrawal of the new four Labour Codes, a ₹26,000 minimum wage, restoration of MGNREGA with 200 assured workdays, and rollback of the Electricity (Amendment) Bill, the Seed Bill and the NFSA amendment.
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Among the dignitaries there was Rakesh Tikait, national spokesperson of the Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU), who was a major face of the 2020-21 agitation against three farm laws that PM Modi had to withdraw — one of the rare times the Modi regime of 12 years so far has walked back under public pressure.
Ranka also recounted the student movement that led to Pradhan’s resignation, and “appealed for stronger unity between students and farmers in future struggles”, according to the SKM press statement shared by Tikait on X.
Video clips of Ranka’s speech were shared by pro-government right-wing handles that saw in it a “plot to overthrow” the Modi government, as Gen-Z protests in Nepal and Bangladesh did in recent years.
Ranka also said, “In the last two months, what we have achieved in Delhi, I feel that this is the biggest and most successful movement of the country after the farmers’ movement (2020-21).”
He also addressed the question of CJP’s future and if it will become a political party: “I would just like to say that in the coming years, the Cockroach Janta Party will become the biggest platform for the youth of this country. We will not let their issues be ignored. And the government should work on our real issues.”
He then said, “In the coming times, we hope that our farmers, and the students and youth of this country work together to corner the Modi government from all sides. In this country, the farmers, the workers, the students, the youth, have all been treated like insects. But now this will change. Now the government cannot ignore us… And we hope that the guidance that you have given us in this movement, will continue to be given to us.”
The CJP, meanwhile, has alleged that assurances made during the student stir had not been fully honoured, saying fresh cases had been registered against protesters in Bihar and West Bengal, and that FIRs continued to be filed in states such as Rajasthan, Ranka’s home state where he has worked for the AAP in the past when he was with Arvind Kejriwal’s party.
The SKM has called for protests at 1,000 locations on August 10, the anniversary of the Quit India Movement, followed by submission of its charter of demands to the Prime Minister, chief ministers and opposition leaders on August 17. It has also announced a sustained agitation at 100 locations, including Delhi, beginning November 26.
CJP leaders have repeatedly pointed to that movement as inspiration as evidence that street pressure can force policy reversals, and have cited it as a template while trying to widen their own campaign beyond education issues to include farmer and labour concerns.
The SKM statement added that two resolutions were passed at Monday’s conference — one seeking land at Singhu border for a memorial to the 736 farmers who died during the 2020-21 protests, and another for a disaster-management framework, in partnership with public insurers, to compensate for crop, livestock and property losses from floods and droughts.
