Delhi turned tense from early this morning as police resorted to lathi charges in several places and fired tear gas shells elsewhere to control the situation on the streets. The clashes unfolded even as protesters linked to the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) continued their agitation through the day. Amid this chaos, a delegation from the party reached Union Minister JP Nadda's residence and placed three key demands before him. After the meeting, delegation member Saurav Das said the government has assured that further talks will continue.
What are CJP's three demands?
The delegation placed three clear demands before JP Nadda during the meeting. The first and most prominent demand calls for the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. The second demand is that compensation be given to the families of children who died by suicide. The third demand is that Sonam Wangchuk, who has been on a hunger strike, be brought back to Jantar Mantar and that his fast be broken. All three demands were placed directly before the minister during the meeting at his residence.
Saurav Das says protest will continue until demands are met
Soon after the meeting with Nadda, Saurav Das shared a post on X detailing the conversation. He said that he and Ashushot Ranka had been at JP Nadda's residence since 12 noon and had placed their demands, which include the immediate resignation or removal of Dharmendra Pradhan. Das wrote on X, "The peaceful protesters will not stop until their demand is met." According to him, the minister assured that the matter would be discussed at the right level, though no firm commitment had been made at the time of the post. Das's statement suggested that the demands raised inside the residence mirrored the three demands the CJP had already made public earlier in the day.
Modi government's first reaction
The first reaction from the Modi government on the CJP protest came from JP Nadda himself. He said the talks with the CJP delegation were held in a good atmosphere. Nadda also acknowledged that the protesters had placed a proposal before him. He said the talks with the protesters had been going on for about five hours by that point. Nadda appealed to the protesters to end their sit-in and shared a post about the meeting on X as well, marking the government's first formal response to the day's developments.
Protest site at Jantar Mantar cleared
Amid these developments, the spot at Jantar Mantar where the protest was being held has been cleared, and the protesters present there have been removed. The site was vacated even as the outcome of the talks between the CJP delegation and Nadda remained unresolved, with no confirmed commitment from the government side at the time. Attention now turns to what the government does next and whether the assurances given during the meeting translate into any firm decision.
