Sonam Wangchuk says Cockroach Janata Party founders harbour political ambitions

Environment activist Sonam Wangchuk, who undertook a 26-day fast at Delhi's Jantar Mantar, has openly stated that the founders of Cockroach Janata Party, Abhijeet Deepke, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, harbour political ambitions, adding that there is nothing wrong with that.

Speaking on a podcast with Prakhar Gupta, Wangchuk clarified his assessment of the three men who emerged as key faces during the NEET paper leak protests. "When I observed them closely, I noticed these things. These are not saints who want nothing and are just doing this. They will definitely have political ambitions, and they should have them. There's nothing wrong with that either," he said.

Reading Political Intentions Up Close

The activist explained that while the trio never directly told him about their political aspirations, he formed his own assessment after working closely with them during the nearly two-month-long agitation demanding the removal of education minister Dharmendra Pradhan. "I have watched them quite closely. I believe they certainly have political ambitions. Perhaps there's nothing wrong with that. This is my assessment of them," Wangchuk stated.

He dismissed initial concerns raised by people that the founders had come from Aam Aadmi Party, saying he does not consider someone's past political associations problematic. "Some people's having a political party background doesn't seem wrong to me," he remarked.

Keep the Platform Neutral, Wangchuk Advises

While acknowledging their ambitions, Wangchuk urged the CJP founders to maintain the purity and neutrality of the platform, which people did not view through a partisan lens. "If you keep this platform non-political, people's faith will remain stronger. Later you can join a political party or start a new political party," he suggested.

He pointed out that during the student movement, people participated without considering whether they belonged to BJP, Congress or AAP, they saw it as a student movement, and giving it political colour would not be good. "Sometimes people tell me with a gun to my temple that we came here seeing you. We didn't even know these people. If they do something wrong in future, we will catch you," Wangchuk shared, adding that he cannot give a written guarantee in blood that they won't become corrupt or politically selfish.

The Rahul Gandhi Plan That Never Was

In a separate revelation, Wangchuk disclosed that he had wanted to end his 36-day hunger strike in a dignified manner by having opposition leader Rahul Gandhi break his fast by offering him juice. The plan was to continue the fast for 12 more days, then march to Parliament on July 20 to hand over a memorandum to MPs.

While his colleagues estimated 10,000 to 15,000 people would join, over one lakh people actually participated in the protest, Wangchuk claimed. The strategy involved handing over the entire matter to MPs and requesting them to raise the issue on the floor of Parliament. Congress leader Pawan Khera had reached the stage as part of this plan.

"The strategy was that if there was no positive initiative from the ruling side, we would meet opposition MPs. The plan was made that opposition leader Rahul Gandhi would come and end the fast and take command of the further struggle," Wangchuk explained. However, the administration forcibly removed them on the 18th itself, preventing the plan from materializing.

Kidnapping Allegation Surfaces

Abhijeet Deepke, one of the CJP founders, made serious allegations in an interview that Wangchuk, whose health was rapidly deteriorating during the protest, was forcibly taken away (kidnapped) and kept in a place where only government representatives were allowed to meet him. Movement associates were not permitted to see him, ultimately forcing him to break his fast at the hands of government officials, Deepke claimed.