Published Jun 01, 2026 | 6:47 PM ⚊ Updated Jun 01, 2026 | 6:47 PM
Abhijeet Dipke, founding president of the Cockroach Janata Party.
Synopsis: Abhijeet Dipke, founder of the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP), has announced that he will return from the United States to lead a protest in Delhi seeking the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over lapses in the conduct of major examinations, including NEET and the CBSE Class XII boards. Though he acknowledged the possibility of being arrested on arrival, Dipke said he still had faith in India’s democracy.
Abhijeet Dipke, founding president of the Cockroach Janata Party, on Monday, 1 June, announced that he will return to India to lead a peaceful protest demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over lapses in the handling of crucial examinations such as NEET and the CBSE Class XII board exams.
In a statement posted on social media on 1 June, Dipke, a 30-year-old student at Boston University in the United States who recently completed a two-year master’s degree in Public Relations, said he would arrive in Delhi on the morning of 6 June and seek police permission to hold a peaceful protest at Jantar Mantar.
“For so many days now, all of you have been seeing that we have been raising our voice on social media, saying that because of the paper leak, the children preparing for NEET who died by suicide, and the hard work of lakhs of students that was ruined, Dharmendra Pradhan should resign for that,” Dipke said.
He said eight lakh students had signed a petition seeking the Minister’s resignation and that the demand had received support from “crores of people” on social media.
He also noted that protests had been held in several places, including Lucknow, Jaipur, Maharashtra and Delhi.
“Today, there are 22 lakh NEET students, 17 lakh CBSE students, 16 lakh CUET students, and 40 lakh SSC GD students—more than one crore students whose lives have been toyed with by the system,” he said.
“If even after such a huge blunder the Education Minister does not resign, then it means that there is no such thing as accountability left in this country,” he said.
He urged supporters of the CJP, students and youth to join him at the Delhi airport.
“The Constitution of India gives us the right to peacefully raise our voices against what is wrong. In accordance with that Constitution, we will raise our voices,” he said.
Important announcement:
CJP Founder @abhijeet_dipke will return to India on June 6 for a peaceful protest at Jantar Mantar, Delhi, demanding the resignation of the Education Minister. pic.twitter.com/x9M1v38Pwu
— Cockroach is Back (@Cockroachisback) June 1, 2026
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Dipke said some of his friends and family feared he could be arrested upon arriving in India, but added that he still believed the country was democratic enough to permit peaceful protests.
“My friends and family are afraid that I will be arrested right at the airport and then sent to jail. But I still hope that our country is a democracy even today and that we will be granted permission to protest peacefully,” he said.
“I am a big admirer of Gandhi, Ambedkar, Bhagat Singh, and Nehru, and I believe in the Constitution of India more than anything else, which gives all of us the right to have our voices heard in a democracy.”
Dipke also said he had chosen to return to India despite having the option to remain in the United States and live comfortably there.
“I could have stayed here comfortably in the USA by taking a job. In the last few days, I have received many job offers as well, but I am not going to take them, as I have decided to come back to India because I love my country and I really want to do something for my country,” he said.
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Dipke originally launched the CJP as a satirical response to controversial remarks made by Supreme Court judge Justice Surya Kant, who compared some unemployed youth to “cockroaches” during a hearing on 15 May.
The movement quickly went viral, amassing tens of lakhs of followers across Instagram and X. At the time of publishing, its Instagram account alone has more than 2.3 crore followers.
Just days after its launch, however, the movement’s X account was withheld following a takedown request by the Union government citing “national security”.
Dipke subsequently launched a new account and filed a petition before the Delhi High Court seeking relief against the ban. On 29 May, the court declined to grant immediate relief.
On Monday, 1 June, a BJP functionary moved the Allahabad High Court seeking a probe into the CJP and Dipke’s extradition to India.
The plea also seeks the removal of posts, videos, reels and other content originating from or associated with Dipke and the CJP that allegedly misuse, distort or misrepresent observations made by the Supreme Court.
(Edited by Dese Gowda)
