Sonam Wangchuk has opened up about Abhijeet Dipke, the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) and the role Rahul Gandhi could have played during his hunger strike in a conversation with Prakhar Gupta on The Prakhar Gupta Xperience.
During the podcast, Wangchuk discussed the political backgrounds and ambitions of the young leaders associated with the movement, while stressing that the platform itself should remain apolitical. He also revealed that Rahul Gandhi was considered a possible person to break his hunger strike as part of an exit strategy for the protest.
Sonam Wangchuk on Abhijeet Dipke’s political ambitions
Speaking about Abhijeet Dipke and the other young people associated with the movement, Wangchuk said he did not see their past political associations as an issue. He said having previously been associated with a political party was not necessarily problematic.
"Politically speaking, I don’t think being associated with a political party is wrong. As far as people saying whether they have political ambitions or not, I think they do. I have assessed them quite carefully. They will certainly have political ambitions, and they should. There is nothing wrong with that," Wangchuk said.
He added that the young leaders should not be expected to have no political aspirations. "They are not saints who want nothing for themselves. Of course they will have political ambitions, and they should," he said.
Wangchuk, however, drew a distinction between individual political ambitions and the nature of the movement's platform. He said the platform should remain a neutral pressure group rather than become a political party.
"We need youth leaders, young leaders. But the platform that you started not as a political party, you should preserve its sanctity. If you keep it as a neutral, apolitical pressure group, you will be able to achieve much more," he said.
"If you don’t make the platform itself political, people will have greater faith in it," Wangchuk added.
He said he did not blame the young leaders for having political ambitions and hoped their experience would help them emerge as more mature leaders. "I will not blame them for having political ambitions. I actually think that is a good thing. Good people have come forward, and after this experience, my hope is that they will emerge as even more mature and capable leaders," he said.
'They are normal Indian youth’
Wangchuk also described the young leaders involved in the movement as ordinary Indian youngsters responding to developments in the country. "They are normal Indian youth who have something to say about what is going on in the country. So they are becoming a voice in that. They are well-meaning, and quite skilled," he said.
When asked whether he believed the young leaders could be corruptible, Wangchuk said he had not seen signs of that based on his assessment. "I did not see any signs that they were corruptible. From what I have assessed, and compared with the ordinary people I see, they are very good," he said.
Sonam Wangchuk on CJP and outside influence
Wangchuk also addressed questions surrounding CJP and allegations of outside influence. He said his assessment did not suggest that those involved were working for another power. "I did not feel anywhere, and I still do not feel, that any of you are working for some other power," he said.
Wangchuk also referred to audience data, saying 94 per cent of the followers were from India while six per cent were from outside the country. "Ninety-four per cent is from India and six per cent from outside. If it had been 30 per cent from outside and 70 per cent from India, red lights would have blinked for me. But with six per cent from outside and 94 per cent from India, I did not feel that way," he said.
Describing CJP as a form of youth expression, Wangchuk said the movement had offered young Indians a creative way to voice their concerns.
Why did Rahul Gandhi’s name come up?
While speaking to Prakhar, Wangchuk explained why Rahul Gandhi’s name came up during discussions around his hunger strike. He said that by the 15th or 16th day, there was uncertainty about whether the protest would succeed and people had started looking for an exit. "Why did Rahul Gandhi’s name come up in Parliament? Many people ask, 'Why would Rahul Gandhi break the fast? He is in the Opposition. Why would you ask him?’ By the 15th or 16th day, nobody was sure this would even succeed. People were already looking for an exit," Wangchuk said.
According to him, the idea was to take the issue to Parliament and have Rahul Gandhi, as Leader of the Opposition, break his fast. "Then the idea came up: why not have the Leader of the Opposition, Rahul Gandhi, break the fast there, because there was also a lot of pressure on me about how we would exit," he said.
Wangchuk explained that the proposed plan involved the Opposition MPs receiving the protesters in Parliament, with the Opposition leader ending his hunger strike.
"The plan was that all the Opposition MPs would be there and the Opposition leader would give me juice or soup and break my fast, after which the movement would also be withdrawn. We would hand the issue over to Parliament. That became the exit strategy," he said.
'If Rahul Gandhi had come, this would have become much bigger’
Wangchuk further claimed that they tried to contact Rahul Gandhi regarding the plan but did not receive a positive response. "Our first idea was to go to Parliament and have Rahul Gandhi break the fast. But when we worked on it and contacted them, we did not get any positive response from him," Wangchuk said.
He added that Gandhi’s presence could have given the protest greater momentum. "We did not feel that Rahul Gandhi supported this stage, because he had not come earlier either. If he had come himself, this would have become much bigger. He did not come, and he did not come even after that," he said. Wangchuk also claimed that some senior Congress leaders had told them they had been asked not to attend. "Some senior leaders told us that they had been asked not to go. And when we asked them to have Rahul Gandhi break the fast in Parliament, from our side we were giving him the biggest honour, that we wanted him to break the fast. We got a negative response to that as well," he said.
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