“Will you ever join politics?” Was asked to one of the leaders of the satirical party that was formed following a joke by a judge during a hearing. “Never say no” – was a reply creating skepticism about his future plans in politics. The CJP who arouse victorious against the government holding a month lon protest demanding the resignation of Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the chaos that occurre because of the NEET-UG paper leak, has ruled out plans joining politics immediately asserting their main focus is to strengthen a youth-led grassroots movement.
Interacting with the media shortly after the centre accepted the key demands of the protestors, CJP spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das spoke about the future of their campaign and whether the group could eventually evolve into a political outfit.
“The only thing on my mind is to go home and sleep, get some rest, and meet my family. I have been away from home for the last couple of months and I really want to just relax, just reflect on all that has happened in the last two months. I think it’s overwhelming for all of us. It is a moment for pride. It is a moment to be really happy, to be relieved. And after that, we will see how it goes,” Ranka said taking a casual route to the reply the question.
While Saurav Das insisted that politics was not the groups immediate objective.
“Right now our focus is very clear that this movement has to go to the grassroots because there are 750-800 political parties already. None of them are able to fulfill the wishes of the youth. And we want to take this movement to the grassroots so that be it any political party or political leader in power, they will be able to work for the youth and fulfill their demands. That is our agenda right now,” Das said elaborating the future plans of the party.
The statements came shortly after Pradhan stepped down from his post on Saturday. His resignation marks a big shift in the government’s response to an agitation that began on June 20, when the CJP launched an indefinite protest at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar.
The party held two rounds of talks with the centre representatives Jitendra Singh and JP Nadda. The first talks were held on July 20 and the second on Saturday, coinciding with Pradhans resignation an announcement. It also held discussions with activist Sonam Wangchuk, whose decision to join the protest on June 28, gave the movement fresh momentum.
The movement led by a former AAP functionary Abhijeet Dipke began in May as a satirical party campaign online before evolving into one of the historic youth led protests in India.