From Jantar Mantar protesters to CJP dissenters, meet Manish Brahmabhatt and Rahul Pandya; youths challenging founder Abhijeet Dipke | Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar News
CHHATRAPATI SAMBHAJINAGAR: Once they were among the volunteers who say they stood with the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) during its student agitation at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar last month. Now, Manish Brahmabhatt and Rahul Pandya, two youths from Ahmedabad, have emerged as the faces of an internal protest against the party’s founder Abhijeet Dipke, demanding a greater say for grassroots volunteers.The duo travelled from Gujarat to Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar after learning that CJP’s core team was meeting at Dipke’s residence.Their complaint was not against the movement itself, but against what they alleged was the manner in which its future was being decided.Brahmabhatt and Pandya said they had actively participated in the Jantar Mantar agitation but were not invited to the core committee discussions.They alleged that people close to Dipke had been given prominence while volunteers who worked on the ground were left out.“When the CJP’s agitation began, it was faceless. I, along with many other volunteers, contributed to the agitation at Jantar Mantar (in New Delhi). I came here and tried to meet the CJP team. But nobody met me here. I was not even called for the meeting,” Brahmabhatt had said.The two protesters positioned themselves as volunteers seeking representation rather than leaders seeking a larger role.They argued that the Delhi agitation drew participation from young people across the country and therefore decisions about its future should not be concentrated among a small group.“Cousins and friends are sitting together, and they cannot decide the way ahead of the protest as this agitation was of the entire country,” Brahmabhatt said.Their demand was for an organisational structure that would allow volunteers from different states to participate in decision-making.“There should be democracy in the organisation, and people who have worked in the agitation should have been called to put forth their suggestions,” he said.The disagreement escalated on August 6 when Brahmabhatt and Pandya reached Dipke’s residence in the Waluj MIDC area, where the CJP core team was holding meetings.Brahmabhatt announced an indefinite fast at the spot and used a pointed reference to AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal to describe what he did not want the CJP to become.“We don’t want another Kejriwal. I am sitting on an indefinite fast here itself now,” he said.The two later continued their indefinite hunger strike, protesting the composition of the CJP core committee announced on August 6 and alleging favouritism and the exclusion of grassroots members.On Monday, both were shifted to a hospital following an alleged deterioration in their health. Brahmabhatt alleged that police forcibly took them to the hospital, but maintained that their agitation would continue.Two other volunteers subsequently took their place at the protest site and announced that they would continue the hunger strike against Dipke.The duo’s opposition stems from their belief that the movement should not become centred around an individual or a small group after the Jantar Mantar agitation.The CJP-led protest in Delhi had focused on alleged NEET paper leaks and other examination irregularities.Brahmabhatt and Pandya said they had contributed to that movement as volunteers and therefore deserved a voice in deciding its next phase.Their central demand has been greater internal democracy, including representation for volunteers from different states on the core committee.
