Pressers, meetings cancelled in Kolkata due to BJP pressure: CJP

‘You cannot stop the cockroaches in this way. The more they try to prevent us, the more youth will come forward,’ says co-convenor Ashutosh Ranka

Updated - August 19, 2026 04:06 am IST - Kolkata

CJP spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka, centre, addresses a press conference with party members outside Press Club Kolkata, West Bengal, on August 18, 2026. | Photo Credit: PTI

The Cockroach Janata Party on Tuesday (August 18, 2026) claimed its press conferences and meetings across six locations in Kolkata had been cancelled after the West Bengal government warned off the authorities in charge of the venues.

The CJP was scheduled to hold a press conference at the Kolkata Press Club on Tuesday evening over the death of the father of a party volunteer, Abdul Hafiz, in Bankura, following an alleged attack by local Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers. The group’s co-convenor Ashutosh Ranka was to later organise a volunteers' meet at the Bharat Seva Hall in Bipin Ganguly Street.

However, the Press Club cancelled the event at the last minute, citing a sudden power cut. Later, the CJP held the press conference outside the Press Club’s gate.

The Bharat Seva Hall also cancelled permission to hold the event in the afternoon. "We contacted at least six other venues to let us conduct the event. But they all told us that the BJP government threatened them to not give us permission," Mr. Ranka told media persons, adding that the CJP would continue its fight amid all adversities.

"The BJP needs to change their playbook. You cannot stop the cockroaches in this way. The more they try to prevent us, the more youth will come forward. If they don't stop doing such tricks, the people of Bengal will also get over with them soon," Mr. Ranka said.

The group said they would raise funds for Mr. Abdul Hafiz, whose father died on Saturday (August 15, 2026), after he went to inspect a government school as part of the CJP’s nationwide 'School Thik Karo' (setting schools right) campaign.

The police have arrested eight people so far in the case. The West Bengal Police, in a post on social media platform X, denied the allegations of brutal physical assault. The allegations were false and baseless, as Hafiz had sustained only a “minor injury that requires a single stitch”, the police said.

"Making such statements on social media doesn't make any sense. Why don't they publish the autopsy report? It will make the scene clear. Abdul is now our responsibility. Despite such a tragedy, he didn't ask for the compensation but only a school at his village in his father's name. I can't even imagine such a mindset," Mr. Ranka said.

The CJP has now demanded the government provide Mr. Abdul Hafiz with suitable compensation of a minimum of ₹1 crore and the arrest of 10 accused in the next 10 days.

The BJP government in West Bengal was only two months old, Mr. Ranka said, and therefore needed to coordinate with the CJP on fixing the education system instead of resisting the group by sending goons.

"Over 8,000 schools in Bengal have been shut in the last two to three years. The condition of the public colleges and universities is beyond our imagination. So many teachers lost their jobs due to corruption and paper leaks under the previous government. It's high time the BJP fixed this. Otherwise, the youth will seek answers," the CJP’s east zone coordinator Ankit Bharadwaj said.

They would gherao the Bankura District Collector's office if their demands were not fulfilled, the CJP said.

Published - August 19, 2026 02:24 am IST

Bharatiya Janata Party / Cockroach Janta Party / Bengal / Kolkata

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