India’s ‘Cockroach Janata Party’ emerges after chief justice’s controversial remark

Kathmandu – The most unusual political movement in India in 2026 did not begin in a dusty party office or through a closed-door agreement, but rather from a word spoken inside a Supreme Court hearing.

During a hearing on May 15, India’s Chief Justice Suryakant compared unemployed youths to ‘cockroaches’, sparking not just dismay on the internet but a massive wave of reaction. Within 24 hours of the incident, a 30-year-old student living in America transformed the derogatory term into a party, website, manifesto, anthem, and a massive campaign with millions of members.

The ‘Cockroach Janata Party’ (CJP), now at the peak of discussion across India, and its background are detailed below.

Primarily, CJP is a satirical political movement established on May 16, 2026. Founded to advocate for the rights of youths, this campaign has put forward the intriguing slogan of “secular, socialist, democratic, and lazy”.

Its official website went live immediately with the slogan “The Voice of the Lazy and Unemployed”. The name is a satirical jab at the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), replacing ‘Indian’ with ‘Cockroach’, mocking the political mechanism while showing solidarity with neglected youths. It is not a formally registered party with the Election Commission but a pressure group and satirical movement powered by meme culture and public outrage.

The controversy began on May 15, when Chief Justice Suryakant was hearing a case about individuals using fake educational certificates to enter fields like law and communication. During the proceedings, he remarked that some unemployed youths, like cockroaches, infiltrate professions they don’t belong to, attacking everyone as media, social media, and RTI activists.

He also used the term ‘parasite’ in the same context. This spread like wildfire among unemployed Indian youths. Although the Chief Justice clarified the next day that his comments were misinterpreted and were aimed only at those with fake degrees, the social media outrage did not subside, leading to the birth of CJP.

The mastermind behind this campaign is Abhijit Dipke, a 30-year-old from Aurangabad, Maharashtra, pursuing a master’s in public relations at Boston University, America. With experience in digital media strategy and having worked with the social media team of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Dipke, driven by impulse, shared a ‘Google Form’ on X (Twitter), inviting ‘cockroaches’ to join.

Surprisingly, thousands joined within hours. Using AI tools like Cloud and ChatGPT, he prepared the website and posters within 24 hours. Currently, he is running this campaign solo from Chicago.

The growth rate of this party is astonishing. Within the first 48 hours, over 25,000 people joined via the Google Form, and within 72 hours, the number exceeded 100,000. The CJP’s Instagram account gained over 4.6 million followers in just four days, marking the fastest growth in Indian social media history.

By May 20, its membership had surpassed 350,000. The hashtag “Mai Bhi Cockroach” (I am also a cockroach) went viral nationwide. The membership criteria are also intriguing—anyone unemployed, lazy, constantly online, or professionally capable of expressing outrage can become a member.

Despite its satirical nature, CJP has issued a serious five-point manifesto.

It includes demands such as barring retired Chief Justices from getting a seat in the Rajya Sabha, taking strict legal action against election commissioners who invalidate votes, increasing the number of parliamentary seats with 50% reservation for women, banning MPs or legislators who switch parties from politics for 20 years, and publicly auditing the bank accounts of TV anchors acting as government propagandists. These demands reflect the intense dissatisfaction of youths with India’s judiciary, media, and political inconsistencies.

This movement has received support and solidarity from established politicians like Trinamool Congress’s outspoken MP Mahua Moitra and Kirti Azad. Similarly, former administrative officer Ashish Joshi and several popular YouTubers have also joined in.

Although not a legal political party, discussions have begun about fielding a candidate from this campaign in the Bankipur Assembly by-election in Bihar. With the unemployment rate among educated youths in India nearing 29%, this has become an easy and powerful means of digital rebellion for youths who feel marginalized by the system.