Delhi Sees Clashes as CJP's Parliament March Turns Tense

Synopsis

On July 20, thousands of protesters converged at the Jantar Mantar in Delhi for the "Chalo Sansad" march organized by the Cockroach Janta Party demanding the release of its activist Sonam Wangchuk and resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan for alleged irregularities in the NEET exam. The clashes with police near Parliament led to few detentions and later CJP representatives met Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda to hand over their issues.

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Heavy security marks the protest's arrival as they converge

On Monday, July 20, thousands of protesters marched to Parliament in a rally organised by the satirical political party, the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), led by activist Abhijeet Dipke at Jantar Mantar. The march eventually built up into more than 10,000 people, who tried to cross barricades near Tolstoy Marg-Sansad Marg intersection, resulting in violence with police.

Delhi Police had said the demonstration was barred under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita that prohibits the holding of assemblies of five or more people in the district without permission, except at the site of the protest at Jantar Mantar.

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The trigger: Wangchuk's Hospitalisation

Delhi Police on Saturday, July 18, admitted Sonam Wangchuk into Safdarjung Hospital after he was taken from Jantar Mantar where he was on a 20-day hunger strike. His wife Gitanjali J. Angmo then went to the Delhi High Court, protesting his continued treatment in a hospital and asking about the grounds for it.

But on Sunday the court refused to grant any interim relief, a single judge saying that it was not justified to move the fasting activist and there was no need to order any transfer, an appeal was set to be heard before a division bench on Monday afternoon.

The health parameters of Wangchuk were normal and he wrote to the hospital director on 20th July requesting his temporary leave to attend the march, Wangchuk himself wrote in a letter to that effect.

Resolving conflicts, detentions, and claims to ownership

Hundreds of protesters were beaten by police agents who were using batons to disperse them as they marched from Mandi House Metro to Jantar Mantar. CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke was detained by police during the protest but CJP later clarified that Dipke was not formally detained nor arrested, and that Dipke had ended the hunger strike on his own this morning.

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CJP claims its ally, Wangchuk's wife, Gitanjali Angmo, was assaulted during the protest. Delhi Police denied this allegation in an official statement and said that there was no incident of targeted attack and allegations of malicious action and/or targeted attack are totally false. There are no independent records to confirm or refute the two accounts at the time of the publication.

Government Opens a Channel

CJP officials Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das met with the Union Health Minister J P Nadda at his residence where a written memorandum was submitted.

which contained three demands, which are the release of Sonam Wangchuk, resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, and ₹1 crore compensation to be paid to the NEET-UG 2026 aspirants who died by suicide. Nadda is said to have told the delegation that he will discuss it internally with the party leadership but had not given any definite assurances.

Closing Line

The barricades at Jantar Mantar, which were used to barricade off Parliament during the commencement of its monsoon session, are a symbol of resistance more than any argument, and as such, the protest has turned into an exercise in discussion rather than dissent.