Cockroach Janta Party: The Trigger, Manifesto and Future of India's Latest Political Satire Movement

Abhishek Dipke, 30, had just completed his master’s degree in public relations at Boston University in Massachusetts, USA, when Chief Justice of India Surya Kant’s oral remark during a court hearing allegedly compared young unemployed Indians to “cockroaches” across India.

Dipke, who moved to the United States in 2023 for higher studies, responded by announcing a new platform for all “cockroaches”. He invited people to sign up via a Google Form shared on X.

Read also | Janta Party X cockroach account detained in India

“Click the link below to join. Eligibility criteria: • Unemployed • Lazy • Chronically online • Ability to rant professionally,” Dipke wrote, seemingly unaware of the viral movement the post would eventually spark.

Within hours, Dipke says he got 15,000 Google Form registrations. Soon the name of the campaign became known as Cockroach Janta Party (CJP). He had a twitter, an Instagram page and a website.

Five days after the post was published, an online campaign with the unofficial name of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) has become one of India’s biggest political campaigns on the Internet in recent years.

Party has 6 million registrations CJP’s Instagram account has crossed 13 million followers, many millions more than the Bharatiya Janata Party – the world’s largest political party in terms of physical membership. BJP has 8.7 million followers on Instagram.

However, CJP’s X handle with 200k followers was denied in India in response to a May 21 legal challenge.

As CJP grows by leaps and bounds on the internet, CJI Kant meanwhile distanced himself from the comments saying he was misquoted. But what started as a joke, Dipke says, has now become a full-fledged political movement on the Internet.

Connection NEET?

Dipke’s internet joke seems to have struck a chord with young Indians. According to Dipke, nearly 94 percent of the campaign’s supporters are from India.

The virtual campaign grew just after the cancellation of the National Entrance Test (NEET-UG) 2026. The National Testing Agency (NTA) canceled the NEET-UG entrance medical examination earlier in May, affecting nearly 2.3 million registered students, following a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into a massive document leaked via WhatsApp.

Read also | Will the Cockroach Janta Party spark a Bangladesh-style Gen Z protest in India?

The CJP demanded accountability, including the resignation of India’s Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

What is the CJP Manifesto?

CJP’s name bears a curious resemblance to the BJP, India’s ruling party since 2014. Its website is called “Voice of the Lazy and Unemployed”.

CJP’s manifesto demand includes ban on post-retirement Rajya Sabha seats for chief justices, 50% reservation for women in Parliament no increase in house strength and a 20-year ban on cross-dressing during elections.

The CJP’s manifesto demands include demands such as a ban on post-retirement Rajya Sabha seats for chief justices, 50 percent reservation for women in Parliament without increasing the strength of the House and a 20-year ban on cross-dressing.

“The response we got is an expression of the frustration felt by the Indian youth. It is mainly because they feel that no political party is thinking about them. They are feeling the heat from the rising cost of living and unemployment,” Dipke told LiveMint in the US.

Inspired by the Gen Z protests in Bangladesh, Nepal?

Many in India have begun to compare it to the Gen Z-led protests that toppled governments in Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh in recent years.

In September 2025, large-scale anti-corruption protests organized mostly by Gen Z students took place across Nepal. The situation escalated, with protests against public officials and vandalism of government and political buildings taking place across the country.

On September 9, 2025, the Prime Minister KP Sharma Oilhe resigned along with several government ministers. A new government led by a former rapper Balendra Shah He came to power in Nepal in March.

A similar violent youth-led protest led to the fall of Sheikh Hasina in Bangladesh in August 2024.

But CJP founder Dipke has written off these comparisons.

“Let me be very clear, do not insult or belittle Indian General Z with such comparisons. The youth of this country are far more mature, aware and politically aware than many give credit for. They understand their constitutional rights and will express their dissent through peaceful and democratic means,” he said.

Support and criticism

TMC politicians Mahua Moitra and Kirti Azad were among the first mainstream politicians to extend their support to the party, besides many Bollywood celebrities like Anurag Kashyap and Konkona Sen Sharma who joined the social media frenzy.

Samajwadi Party chief and former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Akhilesh Yadav also supports CLP. Yadav wrote on X ‘BJP vs CJP” which means BJP vs CJP. Uttar Pradesh is going to polls next year.

In addition to virtual support, there were reactions on the ground.

Young volunteers dressed as cockroaches cleaned parts of the Yamuna in the state capital. Instead of reacting only on social media, they staged a protest on the banks of the river, the lifeline of the national capital.

The CJP also faced criticism. Some called it an AAP product by recalling Dipke’s past with whom he had worked as a volunteer Aam Aadmi Party before 2022. Others wondered if the online campaign could have any impact on the country, and some questioned how many people would even vote for it if the CLP decided to become a political party.

Some online users claimed that CLP just turned a joke into an online moment and didn’t really do anything of substance.

Read also | Cockroach Janta Party is now beyond a joke, says founder Abhijeet Dipke

“This is called – becoming a martyr by clipping your nails. My brother is sitting in America and “risking” on Instagram. What a spectacle. Here in India people speak out against the government’s crappy policies, face FIRs, go to jail but never show it. Narcissism is a virus, it quickly takes root in the mind,” the user wrote.

what next

Let me be absolutely clear, do not insult or belittle Indian General Z with such comparisons. The youth in this country are far more mature, aware and politically aware than many give them credit for.

Responding to comments and reactions online, Dipke says he has already started inviting feedback on what to do next. The X handle is gone for now. The website has more than 6 thousand registrations and Instagram has more than 13 million followers. This is huge in the online space.

“We are planning something. I might come to India. It will depend on the feedback we get,” he told Mint in a recent interview.