One of the questions surrounding the satirical political group Cockroach Janta’s protest at Jantar Mantar in Delhi demanding the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan is who is the right candidate to replace him. As National Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal and other party leaders arrived at the protest site on Thursday to show solidarity, the party threw its weight behind scholar and activist Sonam Wangchuk, who is on hunger strike, to become the next education minister.
Arvind Kejriwal said in Jantar Mantar,Dharmendra Pradhan ko hatao aur sonam wangchuk ko desh ka shiksha mantri banao (Sack Dharmendra Pradhan, make Sonam Wangchuk Education Minister).”
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Echoing this sentiment, AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj, who was also present at the protest site, said casting Sonam Wangchuk in the role would send a strong message. He also expressed his concerns about Pradhan, if he is removed from his post or if he resigns, he will be replaced by some other BJP leader like Nitin Gadkari or Smriti Irani.
“Whoever the new (education minister) is, his results will probably not be good either. The question that was on everyone’s mind… Don’t replace Dharmendra Pradhan with Nitin Gadkari or Smriti Irani,” Bharadwaj said while talking to the media.
“If you appoint a scholar like Sonam Wangchuk as the country’s education minister, it will send a strong message to the whole world…” he said, adding that people see a “reflection of Gandhi” in Wangchuk.
He described Wangchuk as “a man who undertakes ‘Satyagraha’ and is willing to sacrifice his life for the country, and is trying to make this government respond to his demands through non-violence.”
Read also: “We share our suffering and anger”: Congress appeals to Sonam Wangchuk to end the matter quickly
The CJP announced that they will march to Parliament on Monday, July 20 to convince the government to listen to them. AAP leaders urged people to join the protest march.
“We also echo what Arvind Kejriwal said: We want everyone – opposition parties, student leaders, various organizations and social groups – to come on the 20th and march towards Parliament,” Bharadwaj said.
When asked if Arvind Kejriwal would also join the protest on Monday, he said he had not spoken to the former Delhi chief minister about the same.
“But I will definitely come. Sanjay Singh has confirmed that he will come. Our employees will definitely come, and we want everyone to join us,” he said.
Also read: ‘PM is afraid of Wangchuk’: Kejriwal recalls Anna Hazare’s 2011 movement, proposes activist for education minister post
Back to Anna Hazare’s 2011 protest
During his visit to Jantar Mantar, Kejriwal recalled the 2011 Anna Hazare-led movement in Delhi in which he also participated and later began his political journey.
Kejriwal urged the government to listen to Wangchuk and warned that she would face the same fate as the United Progressive Alliance government in 2014.
“It is in this very place that I sat with Anna Hazare in April 2011. I urge the government to listen to Sonam Wangchuk, otherwise she will face the same fate three years from now,” he said.
“The prime minister is afraid that Wangchuk will do revolutionary things,” he added.
