Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke to lead Jantar Mantar protest, seeks Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation over NEET row

Abhijeet Dipke, founder of the viral satirical movement Cockroach Janta Party, has announced that he will return to India on June 6 and lead a protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak controversy.

Dipke said the proposed demonstration would be peaceful and that he would seek police permission before holding the protest. He also appealed to students and young people to participate through democratic and non-violent means.

According to Dipke, more than eight lakh people have signed an online petition seeking Pradhan’s resignation. He claimed that concerns over examinations such as NEET, CBSE and CUET had affected a large number of students and contributed to growing frustration among aspirants.

The announcement comes amid continuing scrutiny over the cancellation of NEET-UG 2026, which was originally conducted on May 3 before being scrapped following allegations of a paper leak. The examination, taken by more than 22 lakh candidates, is scheduled to be re-conducted on June 21.

The controversy erupted after so-called “guess papers” circulated before the examination were found to contain questions similar to those that later appeared in the test. Following the allegations, the Centre ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation probe and directed the National Testing Agency to conduct a fresh examination.

Pradhan had earlier acknowledged lapses in the examination process, stating that the “command chain was breached”, while assuring students that action would be taken against those responsible.

The government later announced additional security measures for the re-examination and said reforms would be introduced to strengthen examination integrity.

The protest call comes at a time when student groups across the country have intensified demonstrations over examination-related controversies.

On June 1, members of the All India Students' Association and Krantikari Yuva Sangathan staged a protest outside the Ministry of Education in Delhi, demanding accountability over the NEET paper leak and other examination issues. Several activists were later detained by police.

Dipke first gained national attention after launching the Cockroach Janta Party following remarks made during Supreme Court proceedings related to examination irregularities. The movement later expanded into a broader campaign focused on education reforms, examination transparency and student accountability issues.

The NEET controversy has since evolved into a larger political and legal issue, with petitions reaching the Supreme Court, opposition leaders demanding accountability and student groups calling for structural reforms in the examination system.