Sonam Wangchuk reveals CJP leaders sought protest exit after July 20 crackdown

Sonam Wangchuk, speaking on the PGX podcast with Prakhar Gupta, revealed that leaders of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) were looking for a way to end their protest after a police crackdown at Delhi's Jantar Mantar on July 20, when the movement's stage was dismantled and many protesters left the site.

"Now everyone has gone, our stage has also been broken, now there is no hope," Wangchuk recalled the CJP leadership telling him after the July 20 action. According to Wangchuk, the organisers wanted him to post a message telling protesters that they were tired and should take a break.

"They wanted me to post something saying that you need a good rest now, go sleep at home, don't stay at Jantar Mantar, we can see tomorrow what to do," he said. Wangchuk said he did write such a message, although it was ultimately not posted.

Wangchuk said CJP's leadership was deeply demoralised after the police action. He added that the leadership's morale tended to rise and fall depending on the number of people present at the protest. "When they left, it had gone down. When the youth came back the next day, their morale went up," Wangchuk said.

Wangchuk credited the young protesters for returning despite having faced police action. "The youth did something remarkable," he said, praising those who returned after being subjected to lathi-charge. "I would give credit to those youth who came back after everything had been broken, even after being hit with lathis, because they boosted their morale too."

However, according to Wangchuk, the situation changed the following day as young protesters began returning to Jantar Mantar. He said the return of the protesters restored the confidence of the CJP leadership, which had been shaken after the crackdown.

Wangchuk's account provides an insight into the uncertainty within the protest camp before government negotiations opened.

What we can verify

• Wangchuk stated on the PGX podcast that CJP leaders asked him to help craft a message encouraging protesters to end their sit-in after the July 20 police crackdown at Jantar Mantar.
• CJP leadership was demoralised after the police action that dismantled the protest stage.
• Young protesters returned to Jantar Mantar the day after the crackdown, restoring CJP leadership morale.

What remains unverified

• Exact crowd numbers at Jantar Mantar before and after the July 20 crackdown — no official or independent crowd estimate located in the sourced articles.
• Whether PM Modi's government directly negotiated with CJP/Wangchuk in the days following the crackdown.
• The full text of the message Wangchuk wrote but did not post — only Wangchuk's recollection of its content is reported.

Context

The Jantar Mantar protest, led by CJP alongside student groups, has demanded scrapping the National Testing Agency (NTA), a Supreme Court-monitored probe into NEET paper leaks, and Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation. Wangchuk's 26-day hunger strike from Ladakh became a focal point. His decision to end the fast followed cross-party MP assurances, but CJP leadership insists core demands remain unmet.