Join BJP or parents would be harmed: CJP founder Dipke was threatened

Mumbai: The parents of Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke said a video threatening their family if he did not join the BJP forced them to temporarily leave their home in Maharashtra's Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, India Today reported.

Speaking to a Marathi news channel, Abhijeet's mother, Anita Dipke, said the threat was received shortly after her son launched his satirical political movement. She said Abhijeet initially did not tell the family about the video, but later informed them that it warned his parents would be targeted if he refused to join the BJP. She said he asked them not to watch the video and advised them to leave home for a few days.

Anita said she and her husband, Bhagwan Dipke, then stayed at a relative's house in the Konkan region for about 16 days. She said Abhijeet was away from home at the time and was worried because his father suffers from low blood pressure.

The parents spoke ahead of Abhijeet Dipke's scheduled return to Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar after leading a 36-day protest in New Delhi over alleged irregularities in various examinations. The protest culminated in the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

Bhagwan Dipke said people engaged in public life and social work receive both criticism and appreciation, and that different people react differently to such work.

During the interaction, Anita also recalled an incident from Abhijeet's childhood, saying he was more afraid of his father than anyone else. She said he quietly left home after a plumbing repair went wrong and flooded the house because he feared his father's reaction, while she kept the incident from her husband for six months.