# Rijiju targets CJP founder as AAP worker, Athawale offers NDA berth 2026-08-18T05:52:39+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 2 independent outlets Union minister Kiren Rijiju has alleged that Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke is an Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) worker posing as a student leader. Speaking to ANI on Tuesday, Rijiju said student concerns at Jantar Mantar were genuine but accused AAP of trying to “hijack” the movement for political gain. “Abhijeet Dipke is from Maharashtra, but he is an AAP worker. How did he become a 'student'?” Rijiju asked. Separately, Union minister Ramdas Athawale on Monday offered Dipke a slot in his Republican Party of India (A), a BJP-led NDA ally. Athawale said Dipke, as an Ambedkarite, should join to “fulfil Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar's dream”. The Hindustan Times reports that Dipke has not responded, having earlier ruled out electoral politics, saying people have lost faith in the system and the country needs a public movement, not another party. The CJP is currently running a 'School Thik Karo' campaign in Maharashtra's Hingoli district, demanding better facilities in government schools. Dipke has said the group will remain a pressure group and not form a political party. ## Coverage - timesofindia.indiatimes.com - hindustantimes.com This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above. Updated: this story now draws on 2 sources. Last updated 2026-08-18T06:47:51+00:00. Tags: AAP, Abhijeet Dipke, Cockroach Janta Party, Jantar Mantar, Kiren Rijiju Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/cjp-founder-is-aap-worker-not-student-kiren-rijiju/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/cjp-founder-is-aap-worker-not-student-kiren-rijiju/#story-in-brief How this brief was made: an AI model read the reports linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. Stance labels are editorial classifications of how each outlet framed this story, assigned by the same model, not ratings of the outlets. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/