New Delhi, 24 July (H.S.): After talks with the government at the Constitution Club in New Delhi, Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka said that there would be no compromise on the demand for the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. He said the government has sought time until Saturday afternoon to respond to their demand.

The meeting was attended by Union Health and Family Welfare Minister J.P. Nadda and Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office Dr Jitendra Singh from the government’s side, while CJP was represented by Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das.

Speaking to reporters, Ashutosh Ranka said, “The government has sought time until tomorrow afternoon on our demand for the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan. We hope that the government will remove him soon. The government has given in-principle approval to two of our demands — withdrawal of FIRs and legal cases registered against students.”

Describing the demand for Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation as “non-negotiable”, Ranka made it clear that there would be no compromise on the issue. The party said that the student protest at Jantar Mantar would continue until its main demand is fulfilled.

This was the second round of talks between CJP and the government in Delhi. Earlier, a meeting held at Union Minister J.P. Nadda’s residence on July 20 had remained inconclusive. Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das had also represented CJP in that meeting.

Earlier, the government had claimed that it had invited CJP for talks four times, but the organisation did not attend. CJP, however, had stated that its representatives would not visit J.P. Nadda’s residence for discussions and that talks could take place at a neutral location.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar