Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke said he would remain away from the students protest at Jantar Mantar for a few hours on Thursday, July 23, as he is down with “fever and severe body pain.”
“I’ve been down with a fever and severe body pain for the last few days, but I’ve been pushing through with painkillers. My apologies if you don’t see me at Jantar Mantar today. I need to get a few hours of rest and recover,” he wrote on X.
I’ve been down with a fever and severe body pain for the last few days, but I’ve been pushing through with painkillers.
My apologies if you don’t see me at Jantar Mantar today. I need to get a few hours of rest and recover.
Will be back at the protest site by evening.
— Abhijeet Dipke (@abhijeet_dipke) July 23, 2026
However, Dipke assured the protesting students that he will be back at the Jantar Mantar by evening.
Earlier in the day, the CJP stated that it will not negotiate on the demands seeking the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over exam paper leaks. Further, it maintained that if the government wants to communicate with the agitators, it will have to hold a meeting at the protest site at Jantar Mantar.
“Our protest will continue as it has been. We will not withdraw it until Dharmendra Pradhan resigns. We also want Sonam sir (Wangchuk) to end his hunger strike because we do not want him to put his life at risk. His life is very valuable for the country,” IANS quoted Dipke as saying.
Wangchuk, who entered the 26th day of his hunger strike on Thursday, is currently undergoing treatment at the Medanta Hospital in Gurugram. The activist on Wednesday said he would end his fast if the Centre assured that no action would be taken against the protesters.
On being asked about the talking with the central government, Dipke alleged that the CJP delegation was kept waiting for hours during their meeting with Union Minister JP Nadda.
“We had been kept waiting for five hours, and out of which the conversation was held for only 10 minutes. Who does like that? It was a total wastage of time,” he said.
The CJP founder added: “On one hand we were called for a meeting, while students were brutally beaten up on the other. Whatever the government wants to communicate, the next meeting will take place at Jantar Mantar.”