Village students shifted to vacant house after attack on CJP activists in Rajasthan

An uneasy calm prevails in the nondescript Rampura-Kanwarpura village near Jaipur, a day after Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) activists were allegedly assaulted and hounded out following their failed attempt to inspect a government school. The villagers affirmed that they did not want the issue to take a “political twist”.

About 20 students of the government primary school, who turned up for attending classes in a tense atmosphere on Saturday (August 22, 2026) morning, were shifted to a vacant house situated nearby. The children were earlier studying in a cattle enclosure close to the school building in unhygienic conditions.

Building declared unsafe

The school building, constructed in 1999, was declared unsafe for children because of its dilapidated condition found during an audit undertaken in the aftermath of a tragic roof collapse at a government school in Jhalawar district in July last year that left seven students dead.

Since then, classes were being conducted for primary students in the porch of the cattle enclosure, comprising ramshackle tin sheds and a room filled with fodder for cows and buffaloes. CJP co-convener Ashutosh Ranka had planned a visit to the village after highlighting the conditions in which the children were being taught.

The students were temporarily shifted to a house and a room previously used as a grocery shop was given to them. As the room contained a storage chest and other goods and its ceiling fan was not working, a blackboard was placed outside for the students and the classes were held during the school hours.

House owner Ravishankar Sharma said he had decided to give the space for children’s education with the consent of villagers. “The school building is dilapidated. These are our own children who were suffering. They can study in my building until the school is fully repaired and declared safe [for them],” Mr. Sharma said.

Reacting to the villagers’ gesture, Mr. Ranka said the CJP would continue to raise the issue until good schools were built for the children. “We will not let their future be ruined,” he remarked in a post on X.

Request through a poster

On the locked entrance gate of the cattle enclosure, the villagers hung a poster containing an appeal “from a teacher” to the CJP to adopt the government schools through the Education Department’s ‘Gyan Sankalp’ platform for financial contributions. “Criticism can highlight a problem, but participation can address it and contribution can transform it,” the poster read.

Rajesh Sharma, 38, a former ward member in Rampura-Kanwarpura, said the villagers were willing to assist the government authorities in refurbishing the school building, but the issue should not be politicised. “The CJP’s unwarranted entry will only create complications. We are capable of taking care of our children,” he said.

Another villager, Ram Kishore, 32, said the “political intervention” in the issue pertaining to education would invariably lead to confrontation. However, he denied that any villager had attacked the CJP volunteers on Friday and said the situation went out of control because of their insistence to reach the school building and disturb the atmosphere.

Funds sanctioned: BJP MLA

Kailash Verma, Bharatiya Janata Party MLA from Bagru constituency, in which Rampura-Kanwarpura is situated, visited the village on Saturday. Mr. Verma said ₹18 lakh had already been sanctioned for construction of new classrooms in the school building, while the Opposition parties were engaged in “misleading rhetoric”. “No outsider has the right to create unrest and disorder in the village,” he said.

The CJP and local villagers have lodged complaints with the police, accusing each other of assault and causing disturbance. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Jaipur South) Rajarshi Raj Verma said the first information reports (FIRs) had been registered based on the complaints of both the sides. “The investigation has started and statements are being recorded along with the collection of evidence,” Mr. Verma said.