Maharashtra minister Sanjay Shirsat met the parents of Abhijeet Dipke, founder of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), on Sunday and promised that their son would get official security cover, a day after its agitation was called off following Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation as Union education minister.”Abhijeet will return to his hometown in the next two to three days. When he arrives in Maharashtra, I will personally make a special request to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to provide him with official security so that no threat is posed to his life,” the Shiv Sena leader said after meeting Dipke’s parents at their Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar home.Shirsat is the first leader from the Mahayuti government to communicate with Dipke’s parents. The government had drawn fire from students and political leaders after a leader from a Mahayuti alliance partner described the protesting students as terrorists. Dipke had condemned the comments.Explanation for the ‘delayed’ visitShirsat, who is also the district guardian minister for Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, sought to explain why he did not visit Dipke’s parents during the agitation. ”We have family relations with the Dipke family. I did not visit during the protests to ensure the matter was not given a political turn. Now, I have come to inquire about Abhijeet’s health, and the government will take proper care of him,” he said.Also Road | At Dipke home, mother marks ‘victory’, father says he will never join politicsReacting to the minister’s visit to their home, Abhijeet’s father Bhagwan Dipke said, “During the protests, many leaders called me and visited our home. But I kept wondering why the guardian minister—with whom I worked for 15 years—was neither visiting nor calling me. However, he came personally today and answered that question.”Stating that the family was happy at the minister’s visit, Bhagwan Dipke said, ”The minister’s reasoning that coming here during the protest would have led to political capitalisation felt right to me. I am very happy that he visited our home today. Abhijeet will return in two to three days, and it will be appropriate to discuss the future direction and stance of the movement only after he arrives.”Shirsat accused Opposition parties of trying to take advantage of the CJP’s agitation, while claiming that the movement succeeded because of the central government’s “very positive stance”.Story continues below this ad“However, through this protest and Abhijeet, many political leaders and parties worked to bake their own political potatoes. In the INDIA bloc, there was a race ongoing among alliance members to claim credit for the Delhi protests,” the minister added.For over a month, the CJP protested in Delhi over the NEET question paper leak and other irregularities in competitive exams.