Oppn Divided As Kejriwal & Uddhav Endorse CJP Protest, Congress Intensifies Own Stir In Haryana

CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke, a former volunteer of the AAP’s social media wing, used to work for the party between 2020 and 2023 Like Kejriwal, Thackeray offered strong endorsement to the protest, saying the young people affected by issues such as the NEET (National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test) leak should not be ridiculed as “cockroaches”. The government, he said, must listen to their concerns. Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Nitin Nabin took a potshot at the CJP without taking any name. “Some people sitting abroad think they will give direction to India’s youth. India’s youth lives in the village square with the farmer, lives in coaching institutes, lives on college campuses. But India’s youth is not going to move forward by becoming a puppet in the hands of a few people sitting in Delhi (sic),” Nabin posted originally in Hindi on X. Though none of her colleagues reached Jantar Mantar or met Dipke after his arrival in Delhi, senior CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat backed the demands being raised by the protesters. “They have every right. We support the demand for Pradhan’s resignation. They are raising the same demand and the movement should be supported,” she told ThePrint. The senior leader criticised what she described as “attempts by the government” to curb dissent. “We strongly condemn all efforts by this government to ban such protests. They have become the most authoritarian,” she said. Another Left constituent, the Communist Party of India (CPI), expressed support for the issues raised by the protesters but stopped short of extending support to the CJP. “There is no question of support for the party, but there is sympathy for the young people who are demanding the resignation of the minister. They have suffered,” CPI general secretary D. Raja told ThePrint. Leaders from the CPI’s student and women’s wings, however, were present at the protest. Similarly, All India Students’ Association (AISA), the student wing of the Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation, had a visible presence at Jantar Mantar. AISA-JNU president Neha told ThePrint that the organisation was actively participating in the CJP demonstration. The Congress, meanwhile, intensified its own protests over irregularities in various examinations to demand the resignation of Pradhan. On Saturday, the Indian Youth Congress (IYC) held a protest at Kurukshetra pressing for Pradhan’s resignation, effectively echoing the central demand raised by the CJP. This comes even as IYC insiders said Dipke had earlier reached out to some of its leaders for advice on organising protests. The IYC, its president Uday Bhanu told ThePrint, welcomes the issues being highlighted by the CJP but stopped short of extending any formal support. Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Jha, who wrote a recommendation letter that helped the CJP organise a press conference at the Constitution Club, too, denied any association with the movement.