Ranka meets Akhilesh in Lucknow for 90 minutes, fuels SP-CJP buzz

Cockroach Janta Party national co-convener Ashutosh Ranka walked into the Janeshwar Mishra Trust office in Lucknow on September 3 and stayed behind closed doors with Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav for about 90 minutes.

Neither side disclosed what was discussed. Ranka left without speaking to the media, and the SP released no detailed readout. The silence is what set political circles buzzing — Uttar Pradesh votes for a new assembly in 2027, and the CJP has spent the summer turning student anger into the most visible street movement in the country.

What we can verify: the meeting took place on Thursday, September 3, at around 4 pm at the Trust office near the SP headquarters, and lasted roughly an hour and a half. The Times of India and ABP News both report the duration; Dainik Bhaskar's English edition confirms the venue and notes Ranka refused media questions on exit.

The two sides' on-record accounts frame it as a thank-you visit. Ranka told reporters after the meeting that the CJP was "not entering electoral politics at present" and had no immediate plans to contest elections, adding: "Akhilesh Yadav has also been inviting us to meet, so we came to Lucknow." SP national secretary Rajendra Chaudhary described it as a courtesy call in which Ranka conveyed the organisation's gratitude to Akhilesh and Mainpuri MP Dimple Yadav for backing the Jantar Mantar protest. SP spokesperson Fakhrul Hasan Chand separately said no political issue was discussed.

One substantive item did surface. Chaudhary said the alleged closure of 26,000 primary schools in Uttar Pradesh under the BJP government came up — an issue the SP has raised for over a year, including "PDA Pathshalas" at shuttered school sites and a promise to reopen them if voted to power in 2027. For the CJP, which launched a nationwide "School Thik Karo" campaign on August 15, the overlap is obvious.

The meeting caps a visible warming between the two camps. Dimple Yadav joined the CJP's July 20 demonstration in Delhi and was photographed at the front during the police lathi-charge. When Ranka and his team were allegedly attacked while inspecting a government school at Rampura Kanwarpura near Jaipur on August 21, Akhilesh publicly condemned the assault. Days after the Jantar Mantar protest ended on July 25, Ranka had warned from Delhi that if paper-leak cases did not stop in Uttar Pradesh, "there will be an even bigger movement there."

What remains unverified: ABP News reported that Akhilesh assured Ranka the SP "stands with" the CJP on student and education issues and that the two discussed Gen-Z and Gen-Alpha concerns — but neither leader confirmed this on record [unverified]; whether the meeting leads to joint programmes, shared data on school closures, or any electoral understanding is pure speculation at this stage [unverified]; no alliance or seat arrangement has been announced by either side.