The BJP on Sunday took on the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), saying the group, which cropped up just months ago and led an agitation over the alleged NEET paper leak and primarily students' concerns, has "suddenly" shifted its focus to an issue related to electoral politics.
"Perhaps you wouldn't see such a fast mutation (change) even in radioactive decay," BJP Rajya Sabha MP Sudhanshu Trivedi jibed, while replying to media queries during a press conference at the BJP headquarters here.
Follow live updates on the CJP protest here.
On Saturday, senior BJP leader Ravi Shakar Prasad had alleged that CJP is doing "shadow-boxing" for the Aam Aadmi Party.
Top CJP leaders on Sunday vowed to expand their protests over alleged irregularities during Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) leaders Abhijeet Dipke, Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das, who were set free on a condition that they would not "breach peace" for a year, claimed their detention was illegal and the protest would continue till Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar resigns.
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Asked about the CJP leaders vowing to continue their protest, Trivedi said, "Look, everyone has the right to protest, but how much it is accepted thereafter is a different matter altogether."
"Another thing has also become clear; what was a students' movement over the examination system, just two months ago, has suddenly turned into agitation over electoral issues," he said in a guarded response.
"Perhaps you wouldn't see such a fast mutation even in radioactive decay," he jibed, reiterating, "But, everyone has the right. Whoever wants to protest may protest,"
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Trivedi said the recent victory of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) in various campus polls reflects students' sentiments and the ground reality.
"We have won the Delhi University students' union elections. We have won the Panjab University student union elections as well. The sentiment of the youth is clearly visible on the ground," he added.
The CJP had led a protest at Jantar Mantar over the NEET paper leak issue in June-July, which culminated in the resignation of erstwhile Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan.