CJP vows to continue school campaign in Rajasthan, rejects political agenda charge

The Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) will continue visiting schools across the country to highlight inadequate infrastructure and hold governments accountable, its spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka said on Saturday.

Ranka maintained that the organisation’s ‘School Thik Karo’ campaign was neither motivated by electoral considerations nor directed politically against the BJP.

“We will not say anything; we will only conduct school visits. You can do whatever you want. We are not afraid of your nonsense. We will get our schools repaired; you can do whatever you want. Look, we are seeking accountability from the government,” he told IANS.

Ranka said the authorities should explain when they would address the condition of government schools instead of asking how the CJP planned to respond within 48 hours.

“The question should not be what CJP will do in 48 hours; the question should be when the government will repair these schools. When will the 600 schools in Rajasthan that are functioning without buildings be repaired? When will the 85,000 classrooms that are in poor condition be repaired? You should ask these questions to the Rajasthan government,” he said.

Referring to the alleged assault on CJP members in a Rajasthan village, Ranka said videos of the incident had been posted on social media and submitted to the police.

“What happened yesterday has been captured in videos that are available on X, Instagram and other social media platforms. We have also shared those videos with the police. These are unedited videos; we don’t have any narrative,” he said.

Ranka claimed that those involved in the purported assault could be identified from the footage and arrested. He added that any evidence supporting the accusations made against CJP members should also be released publicly.

Rejecting claims that the campaign was intended to target the BJP politically, Ranka said CJP representatives had visited the area after learning that a school had allegedly been operating from a buffalo shed for two-and-a-half years.

“We are not here to ask for votes. We are not doing politics against the BJP,” he said, adding that he had visited the school the previous year and shared a video showing its condition.

Ranka said children should not be made to study in such surroundings and asserted that the campaign would continue until the schools concerned were repaired.

Addressing Rajasthan Education Minister Madan Dilawar, Ranka questioned why the authorities were seeking to defend the school’s existing arrangement. He claimed that the tin structure being used for classes was at risk of collapsing and that buffaloes and animal fodder remained nearby.

“Were you saving that school? Stop this hooliganism,” he said.

With IANS inputs