Money power drives elections: CJP's Abhijeet Dipke after ABVP sweeps DUSU polls
CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke claimed that money power influenced the DUSU polls, which were swept by the ABVP. He used the DUSU poll result to question institutional fairness across campuses, exams and welfare systems.
Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke on Sunday alleged that money power drives elections, citing the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad's recent victory in the Delhi University Students' Union polls and claiming that campaigners there travel in luxury cars.
Dipke also raised a wider set of issues linked to campuses and education, including alleged ideological favouritism in universities, protests by Maharashtra Public Service Commission aspirants, the suicide of an IIT Bombay student, conditions in tribal residential schools, and the Election Commission's decision to freeze the Trinamool Congress name and symbol.
The ABVP, an affiliate of the RSS, on Saturday won three of the four central panel posts in the DUSU polls, which were held after recent CJP-led Gen Z protests. The Congress-backed NSUI failed to win any of the four central panel posts, while the ABVP took the president, secretary and joint secretary positions.
Asked about the DUSU result, Dipke told reporters, "Money works in elections and nothing else. Those who campaign in DU come in Rolls Royce, which is worth crores of rupees. They come in Audi, BMW. So money works there."
On Congress MP Rahul Gandhi's claim that the BJP-led government was promoting people with ideological affiliations, Dipke said he shared similar concerns.
He claimed that Vice Chancellor Kumud Sharma of Mahatma Gandhi Antarrashtriya Hindi Vishwavidyalaya, Wardha, came from the RSS ideology. "Since she became VC, FIRs have been registered against more than 50 students," he claimed.
"When students protest for something, an FIR is registered against them. But when ABVP opposes something or locks any gate, no FIR is registered against them. Only Dalit, Adivasi students who oppose the ideology are booked. It is a roadmap to make institutions a shakha of RSS," Dipke charged.
Dipke further claimed that students were losing faith in the education system.
Referring to the agitation by MPSC aspirants, he said they had been demanding the resignation of MPSC Chairman Vivek Bhimanwar for many days over allegations of corruption. "The students have lost faith in the examination system. How can the students keep faith that exams will be conducted transparently until Bhimanwar resigns?" he asked.
He said the CJP, along with MPSC aspirants, would soon launch an online campaign called 'Bhimanwar Rajinama Dya', under which students would explain who Bhimanwar is, what his "achievements" are, his relation with Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, and why his resignation is required.
On the suicide of an IIT Bombay student last week, Dipke said it could not be justified simply because the student was allegedly caught cheating. Officials have said the student was found hanging from the ceiling fan in his hostel room on Friday evening, hours after he was allegedly caught using a mobile phone and ChatGPT during a mid-semester examination.
"The suicide incident at IIT Bombay is painful. This is a result of students losing faith in the education system. Children are dying in backward areas as well as big cities. They are committing suicide because they feel that no one is there to support them," Dipke claimed.
He added, "Suicide cannot be justified if he is caught cheating. Did we ever hear of a minister committing suicide after being caught in corruption, or a businessman who looted a bank and fled? Mental health counselling is more important here. It was not such a grave mistake to warrant suicide."
Speaking about his recent tour of Vidarbha, where he also visited tribal schools, Dipke alleged that students were not being given proper facilities.
"Ashram schools get a large amount of funds. Recently three students died of snakebite in Gadchiroli, but still beds are not given to students, and they are still sleeping on the ground. Girls had to bathe in the open, and there was no roof or doors to the boys' bathroom. Are they animals?" he asked.
Targeting the government, he said, "If you cannot give a dignified education, then for what reason are you sitting in power?" He added that the 'Adivasi School Thik Karo' campaign would continue and be expanded nationwide. "I have visited parts of Maharashtra and will also go to Gujarat, about which no one is asking me," he said.
On the Election Commission's decision to freeze the name and symbol of the Trinamool Congress, Dipke said Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar should join the ruling BJP, dissolve all Opposition parties and freeze their symbols. "One party will contest, and one party will win elections," he quipped.