Cockroach Janta Party Leader Begins Hunger Strike in Delhi After Activist Removed

Abhijeet Dipke, head of the Cockroach Janta Party, began an indefinite hunger strike in New Delhi on July 18 after police removed educator-activist Sonam Wangchuk from the party's sit-in at the Jantar Mantar observatory. Al Jazeera reported that authorities took Wangchuk to a hospital against his will on the 21st day of his own hunger strike.

Dipke held up a banner at the site as the action unfolded.

The demonstrators plan to march toward the Indian Parliament on July 20 to demand the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. The protest follows nationwide outrage over university entrance exam leaks and wider accountability failures in the examination system. ” The group has since drawn an online following among young Indians and organized large protests.

In the 2024 general election the Bharatiya Janata Party secured the support of slightly more than one-third of voters nationally. More than 800 million Indians rely on government food handouts in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, while the richest 1 percent holds a share of income and wealth unseen in the past century.