Relief and joy replaced months of anxiety for the parents of CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke on Saturday after the extraordinary campaign led by him culminated in Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation.
"I will ask him to come home early. If he does not come, we will go and bring him back. I will hug him tightly and perform an aarti for him. The last time he was here, he did not allow me to do that, saying he was not some prominent person," said Abhijeet's mother Anita Dipke, fighting back her tears.
"I am extremely happy. His honesty has won. The support of the youth helped him and he achieved a big victory," she said, speaking to reporters at her home in Maharashtra's Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar city.
Ever since her son returned to India and launched the agitation seeking Union Education Minister Pradhan's resignation over the NEET paper leak issue, she was worried about him.
After the Cockroach Janta Party's agitation started at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, she could not even sleep, Anit Dipke said.
"I was worried all the time. I had sleepless nights. Every morning, I was scared to even look at my phone, fearing I would see a disturbing video. I would immediately call his friends to ask if he was safe," said Anita.
Abhijeet's friends reassured her, telling her that he became emotional whenever he learnt that she was worried, and they were always by his side, taking care of him.
Recalling the day the agitation began, Anita said she cried out of worry and pain. "Today, the tears in my eyes are of happiness," she said.
Calling Pradhan's resignation the "victory of the youth", she said thousands of young people worked tirelessly to make the campaign successful.
Anita, however, felt her son was unlikely to launch a political party and would instead continue working in the social sector.
Abhijeet's father Bhagwanrao Dipke said the family lived under constant fear ever since his son launched the CJP despite having no political background.
"We were all worried when he took the political plunge. He went against my wishes. Nobody in our family had any political background," he said.
They had even requested Abhijeet not to return to India from the United States in June, fearing he might be arrested.
"We were so scared that during the initial days we left home and stayed in Konkan. We were under tremendous pressure. There were threats of physical harm to us," Bhagwanrao said.
The anxiety took a toll on their health, he said.
"We became so weak that we could barely stand. We were eating barely one roti a day. We could neither eat properly nor sleep. He was attacked twice during the agitation," Bhagwanrao said.
Watching a police official pulling down Abhijeet's microphone on July 20, he was reminded of a battle scene from the film "Border".
"I felt that if my Abhijeet fell into the hands of the police, he would not survive. By God's grace, he is safe. I honestly feel he should now come home and stay with us," he said.
Commenting on Pradhan's resignation, Bhagwanrao said the Union minister showed "a big heart" by stepping down while asking students to focus on their education.
"This should not be seen as anybody's victory or defeat. Leaving such a high post requires a big heart. Even while resigning, he thought about the interests of students," he said.
Describing his son as a well-educated person who had thought everything through before launching the agitation, Bhagwanrao said he was unsure what Abhijeet's next political step would be.
"He had earlier worked with (AAP leader) Arvind Kejriwal and has seen politics closely. I personally do not like politics, so I have no idea what he will do next. But I will be with him," Bhagwanrao said.
(With inputs from PTI)
