4 min readNew DelhiJun 6, 2026 12:31 PM IST
First published on: Jun 6, 2026 at 10:19 AM IST
For most 17-year-olds, a Saturday morning means sleeping in, scrolling through Instagram, or squeezing in a few extra hours of coaching classes. Aarav has chosen something else. Standing outside Parliament Street police station, sweat already gathering on his forehead in the June heat, the Class 12 student from Noida waits for a protest to begin.
In less than a year, he will sit for the NEET examination. Today, that uncertainty has brought him here.
Cockroach Janta Party Protest Live Updates
“What has happened with the exams has scared me. I don’t want to go through it,” he says, glancing towards a growing cluster of television cameras and police personnel.
Aarav is among the several supporters of youth pressure group Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) who gathered outside Parliament Street police station and at Delhi airport on Saturday morning to show solidarity with its leader Abhijeet Dipke, who was arriving from the United States.
Madhvi Biswas, 41, had come all the way from Tripura to support Dipke’s movement and prominent activist Sonam Wangchuk, who has shown support for the CJP.
“I had criticised the government, but was arrested for it. That’s why I am supporting this movement,” said Biswas, who is a content creator.
CJP founder Dipke arrived from Boston at 7.30 am in Delhi. The Delhi Police granted permission to Dipke to protest at the Jantar Mantar directly at the airport. Their principal demand is the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. Senior police officials met Dipke at Terminal 3 upon his arrival from the United States, after he cleared immigration. The CJP has now asked protesters to arrive directly at Jantar Mantar, not at the Parliament Street Police Station.
As a huge crowd waited for him to come out of the airport, there was palpable excitement in the air. He came out at 9.15 am after talking to police officials, holding BR Ambedkar’s My Autobiography. The crowd surged, and supporters rushed towards his vehicle. Dipke was swiftly whisked away in a car.
There were chants of Jai Bhim by supporters as Dipke left.
A few steps away from Arav stands Sarthak, a public relations professional who has come carrying an unlikely protest accessory: a copy of Shashi Tharoor’s Ambedkar: A Life. He flips through its pages as reporters rush past him, chasing updates about a political outfit that did not exist a few weeks ago.
“I have come here to support the issues CJP is talking about,” he says. “I don’t see it as a political party or anything. It’s about saying what’s right.”
Around them, the scene seems much bigger than the crowd itself. Only about 20 protesters have gathered, but Parliament Street police station looks as if it is preparing for a major political event.
On most mornings, the road outside the station is quiet, with office-goers and commuters passing through central Delhi. But on Saturday, it is packed with police personnel and television crews. Delhi Police officers stop and direct vehicles. CRPF jawans stand in a line along the station wall. Reporters prepare for live broadcasts while photographers keep their cameras trained on the entrance, waiting for the next arrival.
Excitement for a newcomer
The excitement is not for a BJP roadshow or an opposition dharna. Instead, it centres on an unlikely newcomer: the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP).
Around 8.30 am, one of its founders, journalist-turned-activist Saurav Das, arrived at the police station and was immediately surrounded by cameras. Police officers gently but firmly ushered him away from the middle of the road.
CJP became all the rage – at least on Instagram – after a page was created in its name, inspired by Chief Justice Suryakant’s remark in which he loosely used the term “cockroach” to describe “certain people who become activists and media persons”. He later clarified the comment, but by then the idea had already taken hold.
The view outside the Parliament Street as CJP followers gather for a protest demanding the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. (Express Photo)
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