Govt Hopes For Breakthrough In Round 2 Of Talks With CJP On July 22

New Delhi: Amid escalating protests over Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation, the Centre is set to hold another round of talks with representatives of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP)-led student protest on Wednesday.

Earlier last night, Union Health Minister JP Nadda met activist Sonam Wangchuk at Medanta Hospital, and now the Centre is "hopeful of a breakthrough," News18 reported, quoting sources.

Fresh round of talks

Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh, who is also Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office, is expected to meet CJP representatives shortly.

Reportedly, the key issue discussed during the midnight meeting was Wangchuk's demand that the ongoing student protest be taken up for discussion in Parliament. The government is understood to have conveyed that it is agreeable to a parliamentary discussion, a move that could help break the impasse.

Earlier on Tuesday, CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke accused the Centre of wasting his group's time by initiating talks while simultaneously cracking down on protesters demanding action over the alleged NEET paper leak.

He claimed the delegation was deliberately kept waiting for five hours so that key leaders would remain away from the protest site during the police action. "The whole plan was to scatter the team. You call for talks on one hand and unleash batons on students on the other," he alleged. The Centre has not responded to these allegations.

First meeting with Centre

Monday's meeting marked the first interaction between the Centre and the protesters. Nadda met CJP spokespersons Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka at his residence on Monday afternoon. He heard their demands and appealed to them to end their protest.