Who Kept the Jantar Mantar Protest Running? Meet CJP's 12-Member Team

The Cockroach Janta Party's 36-day protest at Jantar Mantar ended in victory on Saturday, but the celebrations focused on three familiar faces — founder Abhijeet Dipke and spokespersons Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das. Behind them, The Indian Express reports, a 12-member volunteer team worked round the clock to keep the movement running.

What we can verify

According to The Indian Express (July 26, 2026), the core team comprised lawyers, journalists, MBA graduates, political science students, activists, and public-policy professionals. They handled stage setup, crowd management, media coordination, and drafting the charter of demands.

The team coalesced after activist Sonam Wangchuk began his indefinite hunger strike, which ended after 26 days. Ratna Singh, an advocate and former journalist, told The Indian Express that Dipke had already known Ranka and Das, and later brought in Vijeta Dahiya through YouTuber Dhruv Rathee to lead research. Singh herself was brought in by Ranka; both had worked together as journalists in Delhi.

Dahiya was later removed as CJP spokesperson after videos circulated showing him eating a burger away from Monday's "Sansad Chalo" march while protesters faced police lathis and tear gas.

As the protest grew, the team designated spokespersons for media engagement and daily social-media updates. Two women, Urja and Vaishnavi, became familiar onstage faces coordinating daily activities and serving as spokespersons. Urja, a fashion communication graduate from NIFT, said she connected with Dipke via Instagram and joined the protest on July 1. Vaishnavi, a public-policy student, worked on the charter of demands and research.

Afreen joined after helping organise a one-day CJP protest in Bengaluru demanding Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation.

What remains unverified

• Exact headcounts at Jantar Mantar on specific days — no independent crowd estimate has been published.
• Police action details (lathi-charge, tear gas) on specific days — only protester accounts cited so far; no independent police or medical confirmation cited by The Indian Express.
• Internal CJP decision-making around Dahiya's removal — only the video-triggered version is on record.
• Claims about NEET paper-leak scale or specific re-exam demands — cited as CJP's charter demands; no independent verification of the leak's scope cited in this article.

Sources: The Indian Express, "Who kept the Jantar Mantar protest running? Meet the 12-member team," July 26, 2026.