NEW DELHI: The X account of the satirical Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) was withheld in India on Thursday, despite its Instagram following surpassing 18 million — more than both the BJP and Congress — by Thursday evening, shortly after its launch. CJP’s X page had garnered over 200,000 followers before being disabled due to “a legal demand.”
In the hours following the account’s blockage, screenshots circulated widely on social media, amplifying claims that the movement had unsettled the “establishment.” This online movement gained momentum after Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant made remarks that circulated extensively, leading him to assert that parts of the media had misquoted him, falsely suggesting he criticized unemployed youth.
Founded on May 16, just a day after the CJI’s comments, the Cockroach Janta Party identifies itself as “a political front of the youth, by the youth, for the youth — secular, socialist, democratic, and lazy.” The group was established by Abhijeet Dipke, a 30-year-old former political communication strategist currently studying public relations at Boston University.
What started as online satire has evolved into a broader youth-led protest addressing concerns around unemployment and economic anxiety. The Cockroach Janta Party positions itself as the “voice of the lazy and unemployed,” gaining rapid traction among students and young social media users through memes that critique issues such as joblessness, paper leaks, inflation, and political elitism.
In statements to BBC Marathi, Dipke described the idea as a spontaneous response to the online backlash, stating, “I thought we should all come together, maybe just start a platform.” He initiated the movement by posting a Google form inviting people to join what he referred to as “a new platform for all the cockroaches.” Within five days, a website and registration form went live, attracting hundreds of thousands of sign-ups.
CJP’s manifesto includes demands for judicial accountability, opposition to post-retirement Rajya Sabha appointments for judges, women’s reservation, anti-defection reforms, and action against concentrated media ownership. By Thursday, the mix of absurdist humor and political messaging began spilling offline. In Delhi’s Kalindi Kunj, a group of young volunteers participated in a Yamuna clean-up drive while donning cockroach costumes and antenna headbands, displaying placards with the message, “Mai cockroach hoon.” Students in Delhi and Pune also produced videos of mock “cockroach marches,” distributed parody membership slips, and carried signs such as “rozgar do, extermination nahi” (give us jobs, not extermination) and “proud to be a cockroach.”
As of Thursday evening, Dipke noted on his X account that there were ongoing attempts to hack into the Instagram page. In a video posted on CJP’s Instagram, he highlighted that young individuals have begun to embrace the label of “cockroach,” proclaiming, “the system and institutions viewed us as insects,” asserting pride in their identity with the phrase, “I am a cockroach.”
