Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder and convenor Abhijeet Dipke on Sunday recalled being “mad” at his spokespersons Ashutosh Ranka and Sourav Das over their unavailability during the ‘Sansad Chalo’ march on July 20.
In an interview with BBC, Dipke said that during the ‘Sansad Chalo’ march on July 20th, when he was on the third day of his hunger strike, Ranka and Das were called by BJP leaders for a discussion. He added that the two were kept at the venue for around five hours, although the meeting lasted only 10 minutes.
“Sourav and Ashutosh went to the meeting. They (BJP delegation) called them, they kept them for five hours, and the meeting happened just for 10 minutes.”
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Meanwhile, Dipke said the crowd grew impatient and wanted to proceed with the march, while he lacked the energy to lead them as it was the third day of his hunger strike. He added that he tried calling Ranka and Das multiple times, but their phones were unreachable. He said he was “pissed off” at the two as he was unable to address the crowd.
{{/usCountry}}Meanwhile, Dipke said the crowd grew impatient and wanted to proceed with the march, while he lacked the energy to lead them as it was the third day of his hunger strike. He added that he tried calling Ranka and Das multiple times, but their phones were unreachable. He said he was “pissed off” at the two as he was unable to address the crowd.
{{/usCountry}}“And during all this time, I was so pissed off at both of them because I did not have the energy to address the crowd, and the crowd was getting impatient that they wanted to march.”
"We will march, but we will march with responsibility. We are not going to do anything that will create problems for anybody here. And I just kept calling Sourav and Ashutosh, "Where the hell are you guys?" and the phone was just not reachable. I really got mad at them,” Dipke said.
‘Didn’t know what to do during hunger strike’: Dipke
Asked if he would have done anything differently that day, amid police action against some protesters and criticism that CJP leaders were not present when it happened, Dipke said he would have asked Ranka and Das not to attend the meeting.
He added that he was unaware of what one should or should not do during a hunger strike and had continued to address and engage with the crowd the first two days, leaving him extremely weak by the third day.
“I was on the third day of my hunger strike. I did not have any energy left because, me being naive, I did not know what to do when you are on a hunger strike. So during all the hunger strike, I was addressing the crowd, I was engaging with them, and on the third day—on the day of the march—I was too weak. I even fainted early in the morning, and that is why I had to get on a truck because I was not able to walk.”
He added that if Das and Ranka had been at Jantar Mantar, it would have been much easier for him to manage the crowd and lead the march.
July 20 march
Dipke led the ‘Sansad Chalo’ march on July 20, which was also the first day of Monsoon session of the Parliament. CJP's march was part of a 37-days-long agitation that called for the resignation of then union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan over exam irregularities in the NEET UG exam.
Demonstrators spread from Jantar Mantar to Parliament, Raisina Road, Janpath, Connaught Place and India Gate as repeated clashes broke out between protesters and police in the attempt to reach Sansad.
Pradhan submitted his resignation on July 25, prompting the protest to be called off.