The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) on Wednesday said thousands of protesters had gathered at Jantar Mantar. CJP leader Ashutosh Ranka warned that "millions more" would join if the government failed to meet their demands, including the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over alleged NEET irregularities.
Heavy security and barricading remain in place around Parliament House, Rafi Marg and other parts of Delhi. Police have registered six FIRs in connection with the violence and vandalism during Monday's protest march and are probing an alleged larger criminal conspiracy.
Meanwhile, Congress units staged protests across several states against the police lathi-charge on students and the detention of Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and other opposition leaders. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav was also detained during a protest outside Prime Minister Narendra Modi's residence.
Separately, activist Sonam Wangchuk, who remains on an indefinite fast, was shifted to Medanta Hospital following Delhi High Court orders. Union ministers Jitendra Singh and J P Nadda visited the hospital to enquire about his health.
The Cockroach Janta Party has said it will issue a helpline number for protesters who have been detained, and said lawyers assisting them were collecting evidence of police action against the students. The CJP has urged those who have videos of police action to share it with them.
CJP convenor Abhijeet Dipke on Wednesday said that activist Sonam Wangchuk had been on an indefinite fast for 25 days, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi had not posted anything for him.
“Sonam Wangchuk has been on hunger strike for 25 days. His condition is bad. PM has not tweeted for him. This is an inhuman government,” Dipke said. He added that the government was “leave arrogance” and accept the CJP's demands.
CJP convenor Abhijeet Dipke on Wednesday said the student protesters would remain at the Jantar Mantar till union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigns.
“Till the time there is resignation (of Dharmendra Pradhan), we will keep sitting here. The government will have to come here to talk,” Dipke said at the Jantar Mantar.
16 metro stations have been closed across Delhi till further instructions. These include Lok Kalyan Marg, Rajiv Chowk, Patel Chowk, Ramakrishna Ashram Marg, Barakhambha Road, Supreme Court, Seva Teerth, Janpath, Mandi House, Central Secretariat, ITO, Delhi Gate, Indraprastha, Khan Market, Jor Bagh and Shivaji Stadium
However, interchange facility will remain available at Rajiv Chowk, Mandi House and Central Secretariat, DMRC said.
Union minister JP Nadda is likely to meet members of the Cockroach Janta Party on Wednesday.
CJP spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka confirmed that they had received communication from the police on the matter and had informed the same to Sonam Wangchuk's wife, Gitanjali Angmo.
Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal has demanded that the list of police personnel and protesters injured during the march to Parliament be made public and expressed apprehension that students may be turned into accused in FIRs, alleging that this happened during the 2020 Delhi riots as well.
Sibal said children should raise their voice peacefully in every city of the country, so that governments listen to them.
He also lashed out at Union minister JP Nadda over his assertion that a proposal came from the protesters to hold talks with the government and asked that when “our fasting children’s proposals” were known to all, was the government waiting to tear gas and lathi-charge them.
The government on Wednesday said it is ready for discussions on the NEET paper leak, however, the Congress insisted on Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation,
The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to urgently list a petition challenging police action against students during the Cockroach Janata Party's (CJP) Parliament march, telling the petitioners, "Don't waste our time," and asking them to approach the Delhi High Court instead.
A bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant declined the request for an immediate hearing after senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the petitioners, sought urgent intervention over the alleged police action against student protesters during Monday's march to Parliament.
When Sibal pressed for an urgent listing, the bench refused, observing that the Delhi High Court was already seized of similar issues. "Don't waste our time. Go to the High Court," the bench said, according to LiveLaw.
Wearing black clothes, leaders of several Opposition parties on Wednesday staged a protest outside Parliament to express solidarity with students protesting against the NEET paper leak issue.
The opposition MPs raised slogans against the government and demanded the resignation of Home Minister Amit Shah and Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan for the police action against protesting students.
Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were among those who joined the opposition protest.
MPs of the Congress, SP, Left parties, RJD, TMC, JMM and other parties were present during the protest, during which they raised slogans against the government.
Janpath, Rajiv Chowk, Patel Chowk and Central Secretariat metro stations in central Delhi were closed on Wednesday morning, the DMRC said.
This comes amid the ongoing Cockroach Janta Party protest at Jantar Mantar.
"Due to security reasons, Janpath, Rajiv Chowk, Patel Chowk and Central Secretariat metro stations have been closed till further instructions. Interchange facility is available at Rajiv Chowk and Central Secretariat," the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) said in a post on X.
DMK chief and former Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin on Wednesday backed the student protests over alleged NEET irregularities, calling for the examination to be scrapped.
“The students' protest in New Delhi has now captured the attention of the entire country. We were the first to warn that NEET was designed to enable large-scale irregularities. That is why the DMK has opposed NEET from the very beginning, consistently pointing out the dangers it poses,” Stalin said in a post on X.
“Tamil Nadu, which led India in defending social justice and paved the way for the First Constitutional Amendment, has only one demand: Abolition of NEET. More than any other demand, the abolition of NEET must be at the heart of these protests,” Stalin said, adding that scrapping the exam was the only “lasting solution to all these problems.”
Sloganeering continued at Delhi's Jantar Mantar on Wednesday despite persistent rain, as protesters remained gathered to press their demands.
BJP's Ravi Shankar Prasad said it was “irresponsible.” for the Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi to protest outside the Prime Minister's residence,
“He is sitting on a dharna at the gate of the Prime Minister's residence. His father (Rajiv Gandhi) was the Prime Minister, his grandmother Indira Gandhi was the Prime Minister, and his great-grandfather Jawaharlal Nehru was also the Prime Minister of India. He, of all people, should know the dignity and sanctity of the Prime Minister's residence. Despite this, the kind of irresponsible behaviour he has displayed is highly condemnable,” Prasad said, according to ANI news agency.
TMC chairperson and former West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday slammed police action against student protesters during the CJP protest march on Monday.
“The police atrocities on our youth in Delhi are unacceptable. Shame on the Union government. The All India Trinamool Congress fully supports the sit-down protest by the Opposition today near Akbar Road. Our full solidarity,” Banerjee said in a post
The Centre has ordered the deployment of 20 additional companies of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in Delhi to bolster security, officials said on Wednesday.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) issued the deployment order on Tuesday night, following which the CRPF personnel began being airlifted from Kolkata to the national capital.
A total of 20 CRPF companies are being airlifted from Kolkata to be deployed in Delhi to strengthen the law and order in view of the CJP protests, demonstrations by various political parties and the ongoing Parliament session, official sources in the security establishment told PTI.
CJP spokesperson Saurav Das early on Wednesday said his WhatsApp account was blocked. “MY WHATSAPP ACCOUNT HAS BEEN BLOCKED! Can @WhatsApp tell me why and on whose direction it did so?!” Das said in a post on X.
Following this, the CJP questioned: “Is @meta blocking Cockroach Janta Party-related WhatsApp accounts?”.
CJP spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka on Wednesday claimed the protest at Jantar Mantar was “the biggest movement in India's post-independence history.”
He said the protest march on July 20 “was a trailer”, adding that “millions more will come to Delhi” if the government does not agree to the students" demands.
"The government really needs to get its act together otherwise the youth of this country is going to take them down very badly,” Ranka told ANI news agency.
An FIR has been registered after a video showed a Rapid Action Force (RAF) jawan being chased and assaulted allegedly by a group of protesters during the CJP’s march, police said on Wednesday. The video showed the RAF jawan being surrounded, chased and thrashed by several protesters during the CJP’s march towards Parliament on Monday. Police said the FIR had been registered in connection with the incident and an investigation has been launched to identify those involved, PTI news agency reported.
The opposition MPs will hold a protest outside Makar Dwar of Parliament on Wednesday, demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. This comes after the Congress and Samajwadi Party leaders held a protest outside the Prime Minister’s residence on Tuesday.
Today’s protests have been scheduled for around 10:30 am, during which opposition leaders will also raise concerns over the irregularities in the NEET UG examination. The Opposition will also hold a protest against the police action taken on July 20 on students.