CJP Issues Seven-Day Ultimatum for Education Minister's Resignation

The Cockroach Janta Party organised a protest led by founder Abhijeet Dipke at Jantar Mantar on Saturday, demanding the immediate removal of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. CJP spokespersons Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das addressed a subsequent press conference, warning the agitation would expand across the country if Pradhan does not resign or face dismissal.

Earlier in the day, Dipke urged Pradhan to step down by 5 p.m., before organisers officially announced a seven-day deadline for government action.

"We are giving the government seven days. Either Dharmendra Pradhan should resign respectfully, or Prime Minister Narendra Modi should sack him. If his resignation does not come within seven days, this movement will spread throughout the country," Ranka said.

Origins and Online Growth

Dipke called the protest after starting the online satirical account of the Cockroach Janta Party amid escalating demands for accountability over education sector developments. Birthed as an online campaign in May, the CJP quickly garnered over 22 million followers on Instagram.

The organisation used its digital reach to exhort youths to protest in Delhi over alleged irregularities in examinations and recruitment tests. Das said hundreds of thousands of people have already signed petitions seeking the minister's resignation.

Das said other student groups wrote to the minister over the issue but received no response. When asked whether the CJP would send a formal representation, Ranka dismissed the idea.

"Why doesn't he just resign," Ranka said. 

Nationwide Youth Mobilisation

The protest drew participants from across the country. Das said people from Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Maharashtra, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, and the Northeast joined the gathering.

Describing the turnout on Saturday as a significant moment, Ranka said the protest demonstrated that young people were willing to mobilise around issues affecting them. "It was such a huge crowd, and yet it remained a very, very peaceful protest. Maybe one of the most peaceful protests the country has seen in a while," Ranka said. He added, "The Gen Z and the youth of this country have Gandhi and Ambedkar in their blood," thanking participants who had travelled from different parts of the country to attend the event. 

Das thanked Delhi Police for facilitating the demonstration.

"We are very happy that the Delhi Police's priority was peaceful demonstration," Das said.

Organisers are receiving messages from supporters in different states expressing readiness to hold peaceful demonstrations. The group will wait for a week before announcing its next course of action.

"The youth wants to talk, but when the government is not talking, that is when they are getting on the road," Das said.

Broader Systemic Reforms

The organisers framed the protest as a youth-led campaign responding to deep concerns surrounding the education system. They firmly rejected links to established political formations, describing themselves instead as "pro-youth, pro-education, pro-Constitution and pro-India".

"June 6, 2026, will be written in history because today the politics of this country has completely changed," Ranka said, adding that many young people who were often discouraged from taking to the streets had come together for a peaceful demonstration. 

"The time has come to reset our education system, and we have started that reset today."

He stressed that new leadership is necessary to execute meaningful reforms.

"Until this education minister is there, we will not be able to improve the education system of this country," Ranka said.

While maintaining the resignation demand as the immediate focus, Ranka described the initiative as "a platform for the youth", "a collective for the youth" and "a movement for the youth".

"This is just the beginning. There are so many problems of the youth of this country," Ranka said, arguing that concerns relating to education had not received adequate attention.