A Cockroach Janta Party delegation’s attempt to inspect a Rajasthan government-run school on Friday led to a scuffle and a jibe from a BJP lawmaker.
Gopal Sharma, the Civil Lines (Jaipur) MLA, told reporters: “What is CJP? There is no use of a cockroach inside a house. Children and youth belong in a house…”
It started with a CJP team trying to audit a village school in Jaipur’s Bagru Assembly constituency. The team – led by co-convenor Ashutosh Ranka – rolled up outside the village this morning.
On his X account this morning, he said: “… the government school located in Kanvarpura has been operating in a buffalo shed for the past several years. I am just now reaching there.”
And they were met, he said by ‘BJP goons (who) have once again resorted to violence’. Reports, however, said the men who resisted them were residents.
Ranka shared visuals of the scuffle; the CJP team was overpowered and pushed back by their opponents. Stones were thrown at the departing vehicle and the rear windshield was broken.
The violence continued even after the car left. A man in a black t-shirt was chased down, wrestled into submission, and beaten. “All levels of disgust have been crossed today… Car windows were smashed, stones rained down on the team.”
“All of this happened on the orders of Madan Dilawar (the Rajasthan Education Minister),” Ranka alleged, “Madan Dilawar finds it acceptable for children to keep studying in a buffalo shed. But fixing the school? That’s not acceptable.”
“The school will be fixed… one way or another,” he declared.
“Nobody cares about the Congress, so they are wearing someone else’s mask.”
Avinash Gehlot, the Social Justice Minister, was similarly dismissive. “This has become a party of anarchic elements,” he said, referring to the CJP. “They are not repairing the school… but spreading anarchy. Anti-BJP elements are doing this.”
For the Congress, ex-Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot came out to bat. Reminding reporters of the government order barring ‘outsiders’ from visiting state-run schools, he said, “… nothing can be reported. They want to keep their failures hidden. The bad condition of schools – dilapidated buildings and children have died. The situation is very serious. And instead of taking remedial measures, the government is issuing such orders. They will have to withdraw this order.”
