Even as Abhijeet Dipke has emerged as the face of a national youth movement, his family is now dealing with another unexpected development: a flood of marriage proposals.
The 30-year-old activist, who founded the Cockroach Janta Party, has reportedly been receiving proposals even before the recent protests over the alleged NEET paper leak gained national attention.
His mother, Anita Dipke, said the family hopes to see him married by December or January, though the final decision will be left to him.
She recalled discussing marriage with Abhijeet over the phone while he was in Boston. According to her, he simply smiled and did not say much.
The family plans to raise the subject again once he returns home.
Abhijeet was expected to return after the protest ended following the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. However, his journey was postponed after he reportedly contracted typhoid.
His mother said it may take another four or five days for him to return.
The family also revealed that they had gone into hiding for nearly two weeks after Abhijeet announced the formation of the Cockroach Janta Party.
According to Anita, he began receiving threats in Boston, with callers warning that they would target his parents in India.
Abhijeet immediately asked his family to move to a safer place. They shifted to Konkan and stayed with relatives for about 15 days.
The family currently lives in the Waluj area of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar.
Interestingly, Abhijeet had not informed his parents about his plans to launch a political organisation. His mother said they came to know about it only through television news and his interviews.
She also expressed surprise at his confident public speaking.
“At home, he hardly spoke. He would only ask for food or other basic things. He never took part in debates or speech competitions in school,” she said.
She described him as a calm and quiet person who rarely lost his temper.
The family was also surprised to see him speaking fluently in three languages on national television.
Anita recalled his compassionate nature during the Covid-19 pandemic, when he reportedly helped around 15 homeless Adivasi families.
He allowed them to stay in the parking area of their house and arranged food and other necessities for them.
His father reportedly worried that Abhijeet would spend all the family’s savings, but the activist insisted that helping the families was a humanitarian responsibility.
Abhijeet was an above-average student and scored 96 per cent in Class 10. However, his family now regrets pressuring him to study engineering.
After scoring 65 per cent in Class 12 science, he joined an engineering college in Pune but struggled to adjust and left before completing the course.
His mother admitted that forcing him into engineering had been a mistake.
The family also expressed concern over the physical attacks he allegedly faced during the protests.
Anita said she was deeply worried after learning that he had been slapped and that ink had been thrown at him.
When she called him, Abhijeet reportedly told his parents not to worry, saying that he now belonged to the nation and had become “public property”.
For now, while his political journey continues to attract attention, his family is hoping that he will soon make a decision about marriage.
