The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), a movement that emerged from social media satire only weeks ago, is preparing to take its campaign onto India’s streets.
Its founder Abhijeet Dipke, a 30-year-old Boston University graduate, said on Monday that he would return to India to lead a “peaceful protest” on June 6 demanding the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over alleged exam irregularities.
“The time has come for all of us to come together, following the path of the Constitution of India, and peacefully raise our voices to demand Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation,” Dipke said in a video posted on the CJP’s Instagram handle on Monday. “If we raise our voices together, they will definitely have to listen to us,” he added.
India’s nationwide medical entrance test was canceled last month, but only after some 2.2 million students had already taken the exam. The authorities said the move was due to suspicions that exam questions had been leaked.
The CJP was set up after remarks attributed to Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, who reportedly compared some unemployed young people to “cockroaches” and “parasites.”
Kant later said his comments were taken out of context and that he was referring to those who use fake degrees.
But the remarks touched a raw nerve among many young Indians already struggling with unemployment, recurring examination scandals and growing economic insecurity.
Though Dipke launched the CJP as a satirical online project, it quickly took on a life of its own.
“There is this underlying feeling among [India’s youth] that the current political system just does not care about them, be it the government party or the opposition,” Dipke told The New York Times in a recent interview.
According to statements on the CJP website and social media platforms, the new group aims to create local chapters, recruit volunteers and campaign on issues ranging from joblessness and exam paper leaks to educational reform and government accountability.
Since its launch, the CJP has established an immense social media following.
Its Instagram handle now has over 22 million followers — far more than the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) which has 9.5 million, and the main opposition Congress Party, with its 13.9 million.
Authorities have blocked the group’s X account, however, citing national security concerns. This has prompted a legal challenge.
Some Indian leaders have alleged that the CJP is backed by India’s enemies abroad.
Rajeev Chandrasekhar, a senior politician from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), described the movement as a “cross-border influence operation” aimed at destabilizing India.
While senior Cabinet minister Kiren Rijiju accused the CJP of seeking social media followers from arch-enemy Pakistan and the “anti-India gang.”
Meanwhile, Dipke — who has lived in the US for the past two years — has alleged surveillance and intimidation against the CJP.
He said his family and friends were worried he could be arrested on his return.
Sociologist Avijit PathakIt told DW that it was too early to say what the CJP could realistically achieve. The more important question, he argued, was what the movement says about Indian society.
“Whether it survives is impossible to predict,” Pathak told DW. “But it already reveals a widening disconnect between citizens and an establishment that appears increasingly unwilling to listen.”
The movement, he added, has simply tapped into anxieties that were already present.
Pathak also sees a deeper lesson in the movement’s use of humor.
“Humor is never as innocent as it appears,” he said. “Throughout history, satire has served as a powerful instrument of political critique.”