Abhijeet Dipke on NDA offer: ‘Wasn’t I anti-national for you a month ago?’

Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke has hit back at Union minister Ramdas Athawale’s offer to join the Republican Party of India (A), which is part of the BJP-led NDA.

“Just a month ago, wasn’t I anti-national for you?” Dipke wrote on Instagram while sharing a Hindustan Times report on Athawale’s remarks.

Athawale had on Monday urged Dipke to consider joining the RPI(A), saying the young Ambedkarite could help strengthen society and fulfil Dr BR Ambedkar’s vision.

“I think Abhijeet Dipke is an Ambedkarite. He is active and young. He should consider joining Republic Party of India (A),” Athawale told reporters. He also said Dipke should join the ruling alliance if he wanted to contribute to the country.

Athawale’s comments came against the backdrop of CJP-backed and student-led protests at Jantar Mantar over examination paper leaks, student suicides and reforms in the education system. The protests were followed by the resignation of then Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan on July 25.

Pradhan had cited concerns over “anti-national forces” exploiting the protests while announcing his resignation.

Dipke had earlier criticised BJP leaders for branding protesting students as “anti-national”. On August 7, he backed RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s remarks that members of Gen Z should not be labelled anti-national for raising genuine concerns through protests.

Dipke also urged Bhagwat to convey the same message to BJP leaders and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, alleging that some BJP leaders had used terms such as “B-team of terrorists” and “virus” for protesting students.