Cockroach Janta Party petition demanding Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation goes viral: ‘Time to do a proper job’ | Today’s news
The founder of the viral online Cockroach Janta Party campaign has announced plans to launch a petition demanding Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation, blaming the education system for failing millions of students.
Abhijeet Dipke, who launched the satirical digital movement popularly known as CJP, made the challenge in a new Instagram video that quickly went viral online.
Dipke, who is currently based in the United States and graduated in public relations from Boston University, addressed his supporters in Hindi and urged them to support the petition campaign in a big way.
‘Time to do some real work’
In the video, Dipke said: “How are you my cockroaches? Everyone tells me I’ve taken the internet by storm. But I think it’s time to do some real work – the reason we started this. Today we’re going to start a petition calling for the resignation of the education minister.”
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He went on to say: “So everyone please sign and support this in as many numbers as possible because now is the time to hold this system accountable.”
Referring to the alleged failures in the education system and the controversies surrounding the entrance exams, Dipke added, “It was a systemic failure that ruined the future of over 2.2 million students. It was a systemic failure that led to the suicide of NEET students. So whatever happens, we want Dharmendra Pradhan to resign.”
“So let’s raise our voices together and create pressure for all those students, all those who have been wronged, to get justice,” he said.
The caption of the video read: “Minister of Education must resign!”
Viral Rise Of Cockroach Janta Party
The satirical campaign has seen explosive growth on social media over the past week.
According to reports, the CJP’s Instagram account has crossed 19 million followers, surpassing the followers of several major political parties, including the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Indian National Congress, on the platform.
The campaign gained popularity through political satire, memes and commentary targeting unemployment, contentious issues and governance issues affecting young Indians.
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The name “Janta Cockroach Party” emerged after Chief Justice of India Surya Kant allegedly referred to unemployed youths as “cockroaches” during oral observations in court, a remark that later drew strong reactions online.
The founder says he fears arrest
Earlier, during an interview with Red Mike, Dipke claimed that he was afraid of being arrested after returning to India.
In an interview with Saurabh Shukla, he said, “I just had my graduation day. I’m planning to go back to India next month. And as per the pattern, I’m sure once I land at the Delhi airport, I’ll be picked up by the Delhi Police and taken to Tihar.”
His remarks came shortly after Cockroach Janta Party’s original account on X, formerly Twitter, was suspended on May 21, just five days after it was launched.
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At the time of suspension, the account reportedly had over 200,000 followers.
Soon after, the campaign launched another X account called Cockroach is Back, which reportedly gained around 144,000 followers within 24 hours.
Account Suspended Due to “National Security Matters”
According to a report by The Indian Express, the action against the earlier X account was taken after the intelligence agency raised “national security concerns”.
Quoting a senior government official, the report said that the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has directed Company X to freeze the account under Section 69(A) of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
The report further said that the intelligence agency cited concerns related to India’s sovereignty.
Section 69(A) of the IT Act empowers the central government to order intermediaries, including social media platforms and ISPs, to block public access to certain online content or accounts.
The rapid rise of the satirical campaign, along with growing online debates about education policy, youth unemployment and digital censorship, has now thrust the Cockroach Janta Party into the center of the wider political and social online conversation.
