MVA supports Cockroach Janta Party stir in Delhi

Chaitanya Marpakwar

Mumbai: The opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) on Saturday backed the Cockroach Janta Party’s protest in Delhi seeking the resignation of education minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the NEET paper leak.

Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray said the warning given by the agitation at Jantar Mantar is that one must not underestimate the ‘cockroaches’. “Those whom we call the destiny-makers and future of the country — thousands of young people — have come out on the streets in the scorching heat, carrying their pain and worries about their future. It is not right to belittle them by calling them ‘cockroaches’ and deny them justice,” Uddhav said.

NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar said the unprecedented response from the youth to the Cockroach Janta Party’s movement is a clear sign of the simmering discontent among the youth. “The mess in the NEET and CBSE exams, along with the direct fallout from numerous misguided policies of the Central government, has ignited outrage among the country’s young people,” Rohit said.

City Congress chief and MP Varsha Gaikwad said the BJP govt doesn’t care about education or the future of the youth. “The only thing they care about is holding on to power and pushing our country back by centuries to be able to hold on to such power,” she said.

Gaikwad stated in a post on X, “Why must Dharmendra Pradhan resign over the NEET paper leak? Asks the education minister of UP! This is the same gentleman who wanted innocuous nursery rhymes removed from the syllabus… This govt doesn’t believe in accountability and that is why they are so brazen about not resigning. Such a shame!”

Uddhav said, “An agitation of ‘cockroaches’ has begun at Jantar Mantar in Delhi. The NEET paper leak has devastated lakhs of young people. All these aggrieved young men and women are now raising their voices by becoming cockroaches.”

Rohit Pawar said in a post on X, “As a young person, I offer my full support to this movement, which is for the welfare of the nation’s youth. The Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who is responsible for the mess in NEET and CBSE, must resign.”