The appointment of spokespeople signals the movement’s intention to move toward a more organized, public-facing campaign ahead of the June 6 protest.
The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), which began as an online satirical collective, announced on Wednesday the appointment of three spokespersons to “speak on behalf of the protest movement to the public and the media.”
“Investigative journalist Sourav Das will take on the role of chief spokesperson. Political researcher, author and filmmaker Vijita Dahiya and Ashutosh Ranka will also take on the role of spokespersons along with Das,” the CJP said in a statement issued on its X social media account.
“The RJD is committed to changing the political discourse in India, and this will be led by a new generation of leaders,” the statement said. Sourav Das was also one of those who led the anti-pollution protests in November 2025 at India Gate in Delhi, the group said.
The three bring complementary expertise to the movement: Das will work to embed accountability-based messaging, Dahiya will lead engagement with civil society, and Ranka will seek to enhance the group’s appeal among educated youth and technology professionals.
Launched this month following outrage over Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant’s remarks on unemployed youth, the CJP platform has emerged as one of the fastest growing social media movements in the country. The RJD has primarily built its following on social media, mobilizing student anger over exam irregularities and failures in accountability in India’s education sector.
The appointment of spokespersons signals its intention to move towards a more organized and public-facing campaign ahead of the June 6 protest demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over alleged leakage of NEET papers and other exam irregularities.
CJP founder Abhijit Debaki said he will apply for the required police permission at the Parliament Street police station when he arrives in India on June 6 to lead a “peaceful protest” at Jantar Mantar in Delhi.
The movement claims that irregularities in multiple examinations at the national level collectively affected 9.5 million students. An online petition calling for the education minister’s resignation has reportedly received more than 800,000 signatures.
The government on Tuesday replaced Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) president Rahul Singh and board secretary Himanshu Gupta and formed a single-member probe committee into alleged irregularities in the board’s screen marking system.
The June 6 protest call comes amid growing dissatisfaction among students over alleged irregularities in several examinations at the national level. Demonstrations were reported in Lucknow, Jaipur and parts of Maharashtra.
It is estimated that the NEET paper leak controversy has affected around 2.2 million candidates. Dipke claimed that concerns over screenings extended beyond NEET, citing CBSE exams, CUET and SSC GD recruitment tests. He said that these exams together included approximately 9.5 million students, both male and female.
