Activist Sonam Wangchuk has said that the founders of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) may have political ambitions, while making it clear that he sees nothing wrong with young people entering politics.
Speaking in a podcast with Prakhar Gupta, Wangchuk said he had closely assessed CJP founders Abhijeet Dipke, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka during the student movement in Delhi. According to him, their possible political ambitions should not be confused with the purpose of the movement they helped lead.
“I think they do have political ambitions,” Wangchuk said, adding that this was his own assessment and that the founders had not directly told him about such plans.
Wangchuk: Political ambitions are not a bad thing
Wangchuk, 59, said there was nothing wrong with having political aspirations and argued that India needs more young people willing to enter public life.
“They are not saints who do not want anything out of this,” he said, while stressing that political ambitions themselves should not be viewed negatively.
The activist also recalled that when he joined the student movement, critics had pointed out that Dipke had previously been associated with the Aam Aadmi Party. Wangchuk said this did not concern him because having worked with a political party in the past was not inherently wrong.
‘Keep the student movement apolitical’
While Wangchuk was open to the possibility of the CJP founders entering politics, he said he had repeatedly urged them not to use the student movement as a platform for advancing any political party’s agenda.
He said he had told Dipke, Das and Ranka that they could pursue political careers in the future but should preserve the movement’s neutrality.
“Maintain the sanctity of this platform. Keep it neutral, apolitical and a pressure group,” Wangchuk said.
According to him, the student movement was effective precisely because people did not associate it with the BJP, Congress or AAP. Instead, it was viewed as a student-led platform focused on its stated demands.
Wangchuk praises young leaders
Wangchuk said he considered it positive if young people involved in social movements eventually wanted to become political leaders.
He said emerging leaders could enter politics after building their careers around public issues, provided they maintained the independence of movements they represented.
“I think that is a good thing,” he said, referring to young activists developing political ambitions after taking up public issues.
His comments come after a nearly two-month-long student protest in Delhi, during which Wangchuk worked alongside Dipke, Das and Ranka while the movement sought the ouster of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
Wangchuk’s remarks therefore draw a distinction between individual political aspirations and the political neutrality of a public movement, saying the two need not necessarily conflict as long as the platform itself remains free from party influence.
