Activist Sonam Wangchuk has entered into 19th day of his fast unto death seeking the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. While Congress has also been seeking his resignation, the party has maintained a safe distance from Wangchuk and the Cockroach Janata Party’s protest being staged at Jantar Mantar for the last three weeks. The protest has not drawn much support from any of the opposition parties. At best, it has been token support only.
When during a press conference, Congress general secretary in charge of communication, Jairam Ramesh was pointedly asked about his party’s silence about Wangchuk’s fast, he evaded a direct reply and only reiterated his party’s stand seeking resignation of Pradhan, as demanded by Wangchuk also.
Congress general secretary in charge organisation, KC Venugopal in a separate post on X expressed his concern over the deteriorating health of Wangchuk. This was apparently after the Delhi High Court also took note of it following a PIL and asked the government to monitor his health.
The opposition parties have a reason to maintain a distance from the CJP protests. CJP chief Abhijeet Dipke is former communication director of the Aam Aadmi Party. Although he no longer has any ties with the party, various opposition political parties are still apprehensive of his designs and intentions. The Congress in particular appears to be concerned that Dipke may be an AAP prop under a well-planned strategy.
It was originally the CJP that staged a dharna first at Jantar Mantar against the mismanagement of the NEET and CBSE examinations. Despite the CJP having over two million followers on some social media platforms, it could hardly attract any protesters to Jantar Mantar. So much so, the media persons outnumbered the protesters.
Sonam Wangchuk has emerged as an activist in Ladakh and after gaining prominence following his arrest, he jumped the CJP bandwagon in a more forceful manner by starting fast unto death. He has been on an unbroken fast for the last 19 days. He has lost a lot of weight and his health has also deteriorated. This should be a matter of concern for the government. Although the CJP protest has not attracted many people, in case of any adverse development, there is no guarantee that the situation may remain the same. It can spiral out of control. That part will need to be dealt with by the government, which hopefully it should.
Also read: Wangchuk loses 9 kg in 19-day hunger strike; doctor raises alarm
Questions are being raised against the Congress as to why it has not been supporting Wangchuk and the CJP. There has not even been a statement in support of the CJP or Wangchuk from the Congress, the principal opposition party in the country.
There is a reason for that. The CJP is the party of the younger generation described as Gen Z. Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has quite often invoked this generation to bring in socio-political change in the country, particularly after this generation led and brought changes in Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Although India is quite different from those countries, still the Congress has every reason to wish and hope that something similar happens here as well.
While the party was preparing its plan for involving the Gen Z, the CJP landed out of nowhere. It was formed in reaction to the purported remarks of the Chief Justice of India about some activists who were misusing social activism against the system. Within a few days the CJP got over two million followers. It created a sensation.
While the government and the ruling party have been maintaining a “wait and watch” stance, the opposition, particularly the Congress, was apprehensive about the people/ forces behind the CJP. The Congress does not rule out subtle support from the ruling party to create division among the people opposed to it. The party believes that the CJP may be indirectly supported by the BJP to create another party within the opposition space lest its opponents go to the Congress. That is the reason the Congress is apprehensive of supporting the CJP as it may emerge like AAP, thus further cutting into the opposition space.
The Congress did not stop at not supporting the CJP, but also launched its own programme targeting the same generation with its Chhatron ki Goonj (echo of the students) campaign. The motive and the demands of this campaign are the same as that of the CJP; resignation of the Union Education Minister and reforms in the education and examination system. And it is Rahul Gandhi who is himself leading the campaign and interacting directly with the students. He started on June 17 from Kota where he received good response from the students. He is supposed to address a few more such programmes. While the CJP protests remain restricted to Jantar Mantar, Rahul and Congress are taking to make it nationwide.
In a way, it is the Congress which sees a more serious challenge from the CJP than the ruling BJP, hence its cautious approach.
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