CJP's Ashutosh Ranka: Political ambition is to change how politics runs; school audits reveal 'critical situation'

Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder and spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka, in a freewheeling interview with the Indian Express's Srirupa Goswami published September 3, 2026, addressed the group's political ambitions, the role of Ladakhi activist Sonam Wangchuk, and the findings of CJP's 'School Thik Karo' campaign.

Political ambition

Ranka said CJP's political ambition is limited to "changing the way politics is being run in the country." When asked about Wangchuk's recent podcast comments that "CJP leaders have political ambitions," Ranka responded: "We have been very clear that we are fighting to change the politics of this country. We don't want politics to operate the way it has been operating all this while. The politics of our country has continued to ignore the core issues. When was the last time there was a discussion in the Parliament about paper leaks? I don't remember anything before the CJP movement started."

Ranka also noted that Gen Z dialogues and events had not been happening before CJP began.

Wangchuk had emerged as a prominent face of the CJP-led protest at Jantar Mantar, where the group sought to draw attention to education and employment issues, and went on a hunger strike during the protest.

School Thik Karo campaign

Ranka corrected a figure mentioned during the interview from 1,500 to 15,000 schools audited under CJP's 'School Thik Karo' campaign. He described the findings as a "critical situation" in the country's education system.

"I think the biggest takeaway is that the situation is really bad. It's a critical situation. We keep talking about demographic dividend, but the reality on ground is far, far away from it," Ranka said.

According to Ranka, around 80–90 per cent of the schools visited were in what he described as "pathetic condition." He said the findings were particularly concerning because a large section of India's population continues to live in rural areas, where government schools are often the primary route to education and upward mobility.

"Majority of your population still lives in rural areas, whose only access to upward mobility is education. And by education, it's essentially the government schools," he said.

Ranka said the objective of the school audits was not merely to identify infrastructure problems or get individual schools repaired, but to encourage people at the village level to hold governments, school headmasters and local education officials accountable.

"The idea of school audits was not just to get these schools fixed, but more importantly, to make sure that people at the ground level, at the village level, start holding the governments accountable," he said.

Ranka said education would remain a priority for CJP, but the organisation also intends to expand its focus to unemployment and institutional accountability, including judicial reforms, the integrity of the Election Commission, and the mainstream media.

What we can verify

The Indian Express interview with Ashutosh Ranka (published September 3, 2026) is the primary source for all quotes and claims attributed to Ranka in this article. The interview covers his statements on CJP's political ambitions, the Wangchuk interaction, the School Thik Karo campaign figures (15,000 schools, 80–90% in poor condition), and CJP's future focus areas. The correction from 1,500 to 15,000 schools is explicitly noted in the report.

What remains unverified

The claim that 80–90% of audited schools are in "pathetic condition" is Ranka's assessment as reported; independent verification of the audit methodology, sample selection, and condition criteria is not available in the public domain. The exact audit timeline and geographic spread of the 15,000 schools are not specified in the interview. Wangchuk's podcast comments are referenced second-hand through Ranka's response; the original podcast was not independently accessed.