The Cockroach Janta Party's (CJP) protest over alleged irregularities in this year's NEET-UG examination entered its seventh day at Jantar Mantar on Friday, with Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan's birthday becoming the latest focal point of the campaign demanding his resignation.
Marking the occasion, CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke unveiled what he described as a "birthday gift" for the minister. At the protest site, he wrote "Happy Birthday, Pradhan. Please resign" on a whiteboard as supporters sang the birthday song.
"A very happy birthday to you, Dharmendra Pradhan. Do us a favour and resign," Dipke said.
He added, "As a gift, hum aapko resignation letter bhejte hai, aap bas angutha laga dijiye" (As a gift, we'll send you a resignation letter, you just need to put your thumbprint on it).
The protest gained further momentum after activist Sonam Wangchuk announced that he would begin an indefinite hunger strike from Saturday if the Centre failed to respond to demands over the alleged NEET paper leak.
Also read: CJP a voice of youth, but parties must take issue forward: Ramesh
In a video message posted on X, Wangchuk said he would wait until June 27 for the government's response before launching the fast on June 28. Referring to his recent visit to Geneva, he said he had promised supporters that he would review the campaign after returning from Switzerland.
Wangchuk said his campaign was centred on two issues — accountability in the education sector and greater protection for Ladakh's environment, culture and people. He argued that citizens should have a greater role in education-related decisions and that Ladakh's residents must be consulted on matters affecting the region's ecology and cultural identity.
"If I do not receive a response on either of these issues by Saturday, I will sit on a hunger strike with all of you," he said.
The developments come days after Dipke appeared before a committee of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology over the withholding of the group's X account. He alleged that officials refused to share the order authorising the action, describing it as confidential, and did not explain why the account had been blocked.
Dipke claimed the group's social media accounts were blocked to silence its campaign and rejected allegations made by Pradhan that the organisation was the "B-team of terrorists". He also criticised the Prime Minister over recurring examination paper leaks and demanded accountability for student suicides linked to the controversy.
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