A Cockroach Revolution?

There is an aspect of politics in everything. From a decision made by the ruling government, a protest conducted by the opposition, to the content one sees while doomscrolling. Lately, the 2020s have made politics even more accessible for a certain demographic section — the youth.

The youth is typically considered to be a section of population that is “chronically online” — always active on social media. This paradigm of being chronically online has in certain ways forced the youth to be informed of politics.

Enter — perhaps the largest online political movement in India — the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP). Founded and Convened by Abhijeet Dipke, the movement is a response to remarks made by the Chief Justice of India, Justice Surya Kant.

"There are youngsters like cockroaches, who don't get any employment or have any place in the profession. Some of them become media, some of them become social media, RTI activists and other activists, and they start attacking everyone."

However, the Chief Justice of India soon responded, saying that his quote was taken out of context and misunderstood. The term cockroaches only applied to those youth who obtain illegitimate degrees and enter professions.

“I am pained to read how a section of the media has misquoted my oral observations made during the hearing of a frivolous case yesterday. What I had specifically criticised were those who have entered professions like the Bar (legal profession) with the aid of fake and bogus degrees. Similar persons have sneaked into the media, social media, and other noble professions as well, and hence, they are like parasites,”

Regardless of clarifications, the “Cockroaches” — as supporters of the party call themselves — have stormed social media in solidarity and outrage.

The party’s Instagram page reached a whopping 22.8 million followers in a matter of mere days, overtaking the BJP’s 9.3 million and the INC’s 13.5 million followers.

Meanwhile, over on X (Twitter), the party’s account — @CJP_2029 — was ‘withheld in India in response to a legal demand’, which effectively means that users in India cannot see or interact with the account and its posts — practically an account suspension. This action is facilitated by Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, which empowers the Union Government to direct intermediaries (such as internet service providers, telecom operators, and web hosts) to block public access to specific online content or websites

In response to this, a new X account was created — @Cockroachisback — where the party continues to publish posts, lately questioning actions like the CBSE’s errors with its On-Screen Marking system.

The movement has gained immense traction, with media channel debates even including a representative of the Cockroach Janata Party. But it is not clarified whether these representatives were appointed by the Party Convener.

The party indeed has an ideology. On its website, which was reportedly created using AI, the party describes itself as "a political front of the youth, by the youth, for the youth: Secular, Socialist, Democratic, and Lazy."

It is to be understood that this is not a real party. In its website, it is labelled as a work of satire. It does not have official affiliations with neither political parties nor politicians. It’s essentially a movement in response to the CJI’s misquoted cockroaches remark — an attempt to prove that the youth are not really cockroaches.

The party has enshrined a formal five-point manifesto, which it would implement if it “came into power”, is as follows:

At the helm of this movement is Abhijeet Dipke, who holds a master’s degree in public relations, and was previously affiliated with the Aam Aadmi Party.

Dipke has claimed that his personal Instagram account, and the party’s account, have been hacked. He has also reportedly faced multiple death threats.

Recently, Dipke has claimed that the government took down the party’s website — www.cockroachjanataparty.org — but users on X say otherwise.

A user by the name of @bodhi3attva pointed out the following observation;

Another controversy alleges that the 22 million followers on the party’s Instagram account are not Indians, but bots and foreign nationals that have been paid to follow the account. Dipke denied this claim by sharing the account’s follower demographic, which shows more than 94% of the audience is from India.

Political figures from the incumbent government have dismissed the Cockroach Janata Party, and have been vocally against it. However, two MPs from the Trinamool Congress — Mahua Moitra and Kirti Azad — have shown support to the CJP. Congress MP Shashi Tharoor described the CJP as a "revelation" of youth frustration regarding unemployment, inflation, and the NEET paper leaks.

This movement is going to be a litmus test for the effectiveness of social media campaigns in India. How far the movement will go — whether it will succeed, or fail miserably with the label of a seditious act — will determine the future of youth engagement in India.

But here’s the big question — is India witnessing a cockroach revolution? So far, it has been a purely social media thing. Prior to the Cockroach Janata Party, grassroots youth engagement has existed. Except it has never received the same kind of popularity that the CJP’s activism did. Most grassroots youth movement which includes boots on the ground — physical presence, protests and questioning — has been successful, it just has not been internet viral. But in the case of the cockroach revolution, an unassociated group — Team Earth Warrior, has mobilised itself, organising a river Yamuna clean-up drive wearing cockroach costumes. People might have thought that it was an initiative of the CJP, but no — the group has made it clear that it is not related to the party, and is independent with no political ties. This is something the CJP can learn from.

Moreover, it is as if the party is being seen as a sort of a resistance movement — except people blindly jump onto the bandwagon without questioning the intentions of the movement. It is worth noting that the entire movement is founded on a Chief Justice’s misquote — with satire being the structure. If the entire movement was a bit more intentional, with a more clearly defined ideology and real civic engagement, then it could amount to something substantial.

If the cockroaches do come out of the screens, the CJP might have potential for a breakthrough, considering the kind of online support it has. Driving grassroots youth engagement would be the watershed event where the youth takes a serious stand in politics. But until then, the Cockroach Janata Party remains to be a social media hashtag.