Abhijeet Dipke, the 30‑year‑old founder of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), said his higher education in the United States was paid for through a scholarship and an education loan. In an interview with Barkha Dutt for MOJO, Dipke confirmed that he received a Dean’s Scholarship from Boston University and borrowed the remaining amount to cover his expenses.
The scholarship document he shared with Dutt shows that Boston University awarded him a Dean’s Scholarship worth $12,500 each semester for three semesters, totaling $37,500. Dipke added that he still has to repay the loan.
Dipke’s comments come after a Gujarat‑based RTI activist, Amit Tiwari, requested information about how his foreign education was financed. Tiwari has also asked the Maharashtra government to explain how Dipke’s father, Bhagwanrao Dipke, a junior engineer earning about ₹60,000–₹65,000 a month, could afford to send his son abroad for studies.
When asked about the funding of the CJP and the Jantar Mantar protests, Dipke said the party plans to raise money through crowdfunding and will keep its finances transparent. He also claimed that volunteers independently distributed food during the protests and that many lower‑rank Delhi Police officers were sympathetic to the demonstrators.
Tiwari has written to the Election Commission of India and the Central GST authorities, seeking scrutiny of a legal defence fund announced by senior advocate and Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal for the CJP. Sibal last month announced a contribution of ₹1 crore to help protesters arrested by Delhi Police.
Dipke first emerged as a prominent face of the CJP after returning to India from the United States in June. He studied journalism in Pune before earning a Master of Science in Public Relations from Boston University’s College of Communication. Between 2020 and 2023, he worked with the Aam Aadmi Party, handling social media strategy and meme‑based outreach for the 2020 Delhi Assembly elections.
The ongoing RTI requests and media scrutiny highlight the growing interest in the financial background of new political movements and their leaders, as well as the transparency of their funding sources.