After the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) hit the headlines over the past few weeks, former Supreme Court judge Justice Markandey Katju has floated a new party. As per Katju, the ‘Ishq Karo Party’, will be a ‘very serious endeavour to deal with the huge problems facing India.’
Justice Katju even offered Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra to join his new party, with his X feed being filled with his criticism of the CJP, terming its founder as an ‘idiot’ in some posts for demanding Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation over lapses in the competitive exams such as the NEET, conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA).
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Justice Katju, in a post on X, said that people may confuse the party as a joke, ‘a kind of Valentine’s Day for promoting romance between boys and girls.’ “But that is a total misconception,” he said, adding that India’s problems of poverty, malnutrition among children and unemployment and other similar issues can be eradicated by ‘unity’ among people.
“We must have love ( Ishq ) for all our people, irrespective of caste, religion, race etc. Only then we can wage a mighty people’s struggle ( jan sangharsh ) led by modern minded leaders, for the emancipation of our people from their terrible plight,” he wrote. He accused the politicians of seeking power and ‘not genuinely’ caring for the people.
“The aim of the IKP is to combat this evil, and promote unity of our people. We must have love ( Ishq ) for all our people, irrespective of caste, religion, race etc.” he said.
Katju hits out at Dipke
As the Cockroach Janta Party held its first protest at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar on June 6, Katju criticised the party’s ideology and its foudner Abhijeet Dipke saying that Union education minister’s resignation will make no difference ‘The proof that Abhijit Dipke is an idiot is clear from the fact that one of his principal demands is for the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan, India’s Education Minister. But if he resigns he will only be replaced by another Minister. Then what difference will it make,” he wrote on X. He posted the same comment on several posts about CJP’s Jantar Mantar protest.
Meanwhile, the CJP found mention at the INDIA bloc meeting on Monday, with leaders expressing divergent views on its significance and intent, PTI reported, citing sources. adding that the issue was not part of the formal agenda but was referred to by several leaders in their presentations.
One opposition leader said there were concerns among some participants about the nature of the movement that has a massive presence online and whether there could be political motives behind it.
“There were some concerns about the real intent,” an opposition leader said, adding that the dominant sentiment in the meeting was that the development reflected genuine dissatisfaction among young people.
As per sources, National Conference leader Omar Abdullah remarked that the Cockroach Janata Party is “doing something right”, and suggested that the opposition parties should engage with them.
