Won’t be surprised if CJP captures power in one or two States, but may not emerge as a third force nationally: P. Chidambaram

Former Union Minister P. Chidambaram expressed his thoughts on the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), stating that it would not be surprising if the party captured power in one or two states. However, he was uncertain about the party's potential to emerge as a third force at the national level. Chidambaram highlighted the CJP's campaign, focusing on the condition of government schools, under the slogan 'School Thik Karo', which had convinced those in power to allocate funds for improvements.

He also pointed out that the party's small manpower might have led to a ripple effect, similar to throwing a stone. Chidambaram referenced the All Assam Students' Union's role in the formation of the Assam Gana Parishad (AGP) and offered a similar analogy for Nepal, where the leader of the Rastriya Swatantra Party became Prime Minister due to an agitation led by Gen Z. He agreed with an assertion in a Hindu editorial that irregularities in public examinations were not the sole cause of recent youth agitation but were a consequence of deeper issues such as unemployment and lack of income.

He also noted that the paper leak in the NEET-UG was an expected outcome due to the limited staff at the National Testing Agency and the extensive testing across thousands of centers. Chidambaram dismissed the possibility of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) aligning with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), asserting that such a move would result in self-inflicted harm.

He also revealed that the party had supported a resolution in the Assembly to freeze the number of Lok Sabha seats at 543, maintaining the current proportion of seats among the States, despite opposition from various quarters.