Leaders of the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) held a press conference in New Delhi on Monday after being released from custody, using the appearance to direct sharp criticism at Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The party’s founder, Abhijit Dipke, was not at the event; he had returned to his ancestral village following the death of his grandmother. Dipke had posted on X on Sunday that Modi was a coward and a source of shame for India.
CJP leaders speak after release
Ashutosh Ranka, Saurabh Das and Ratna Singh took part in the Monday press conference, presenting the party’s criticism publicly after the leaders’ release. The event placed the CJP’s remarks about Modi at the centre of its first public appearance described in the report following their release from custody.
The summary does not specify the circumstances that led to the custody or provide further details about the release. It also does not identify the subjects addressed by Ranka, Das or Singh individually. The party’s criticism of the prime minister was therefore expressed through both the press conference and Dipke’s separate post on X.
Dipke’s criticism on X
Dipke used a post published on Sunday to make a personal and sharply worded attack on Modi, describing him as “India’s most cowardly prime minister ever” and a source of shame for the country. His comments were made before the press conference, but he did not attend it.
The CJP founder’s absence was attributed to a family bereavement: after his grandmother’s death, he had gone back to his ancestral village. The available account does not indicate that his absence was related to the party’s position or to the press conference itself. The remarks posted online and the Monday appearance by the other leaders were separate parts of the party’s response after the release.
Party’s public response
The press conference gave Ranka, Das and Singh an opportunity to speak for the party in New Delhi, while Dipke’s post made his own criticism visible on social media. Together, the two developments put the CJP’s challenge to Modi in public view following the leaders’ release from custody.
No additional details were provided about the party’s next steps, the reason its leaders had been detained, or whether any official response to the criticism had been issued. The reported statements are the central details available: the three leaders attended Monday’s press conference, and Dipke had criticised Modi on X the previous day before returning to his ancestral village after his grandmother’s death.
