New Delhi: Abhijeet Dipke, founder of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), has said a Boston University scholarship and an education loan financed his studies in the United States, as questions intensified over his family’s finances after an RTI activist sought a probe.
Speaking to senior journalist Barkha Dutt, Dipke dismissed suggestions that his foreign education had been bankrolled by undisclosed family wealth, as reported by India Today.
“My education was funded by a scholarship provided by Boston University. And I had taken some education loan which I have to pay back now,” Dipke said, while also revealing his scholarship letter.
The latest controversy began on August 1, when Surat-based Amit Tiwari filed complaints with multiple authorities, including the Maharashtra government, asking for an inquiry into the finances of Dipke’s father, Bhagwanrao Dipke, a retired junior engineer with the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC).
Tiwari raised doubts over how a public servant earning roughly Rs 60,000-65,000 a month could have financed the overseas education of his children.
Dipke also answered questions about how the CJP plans to sustain its work financially in the future.
“The CJP will do crowdfunding going forward where we will be asking money from people, and we will be very transparent about it,” he said.
Recounting the anti-NEET paper leak protests, Dipke said much of the backing came directly from ordinary people.
“It should be very clear. The people who came to the protests saw that people were donating us food. The people brought their own water bottles,” he said.
He also claimed that some Delhi Police personnel privately supported the agitation.
“Some people from the Delhi Police came to us and said, ‘We will provide you with water bottles, but do not reveal our identities.’ They said some of their children were also preparing for NEET, and they were sympathetic towards the cause, and that’s why they wanted to give us water bottles,” he alleged.
The scrutiny of CJP’s finances has deepened after senior Supreme Court lawyer and Rajya Sabha member Kapil Sibal announced a Rs 1 crore legal aid fund for people arrested in connection with the anti-NEET paper leak protests.
The RTI activist has also moved the Election Commission of India over the CJP’s legal status and sought a review of Sibal’s assistance.
Meanwhile, CJP spokesperson Vaishnavi Gaur also hit back at Tiwari, accusing him of singling out a private individual.
“Those filing RTIs over a private individual’s education expenses should also look at the PM CARES Fund. Modi ji will forgive you, don’t worry,” Gaur wrote on X.
