The basis of the protest is unemployed youth.
Indian authorities are facing an unexpected political challenge – a cockroach generated by artificial intelligence. The parody political party, which has chosen the insect as its symbol, has rapidly gained popularity on Indian social media and enjoys particular support among Generation Z. In just a week, the party's Instagram* followers surpassed 20 million, outpacing the official accounts of all major political parties in India.
The party is called the 'Cockroach Janta Party' (CJP) – a parody of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Its creators publish memes and short videos mocking corruption, employment issues, restrictions on freedom of speech, and the inefficiency of the Indian political system. Meanwhile, the movement has already put forward a number of demands to the authorities and is currently trying to define its future political course.
The 'Cockroach Janta Party' emerged as a satirical online project after the Chief Justice of India, Surya Kant, compared unemployed youth to cockroaches during hearings.
"There are young people who resemble cockroaches, who cannot find work or a place in their profession," the judge's words are quoted by The Guardian. According to him, some of them turn to activism on social media, journalism, or various public campaigns, becoming social parasites.
These statements sparked a wave of outrage and criticism towards Indian authorities for their contemptuous attitude towards youth and their inability to provide decent employment for young Indians.
Recently, Indian political technologist and Boston University student Abhijit Dipke published a post on X: "What if all the cockroaches unite?" This post on his personal page quickly went viral and garnered a huge response from users. Soon, Abhijit Dipke announced that he was creating a movement for all "cockroaches" and published a link to an online questionnaire for those wishing to join the 'Cockroach Janta Party'. The idea quickly went viral in the Indian internet and began to spread rapidly across social media.
"I noticed that within just a few hours we received about 5,000 applications from people who wanted to become members of the 'Cockroach Janta Party'. That’s when I realized it was time to create a new account on X. In 12 hours, we gained 10,000 followers," Abhijit Dipke told the Indian newspaper The Indian Express in an interview. According to him, what is happening has become an unprecedented phenomenon in Indian politics.
The movement has already begun to attract well-known Indian politicians and public figures, notes Al Jazeera. Among them are opposition MP from West Bengal, Mahua Moitra, former parliamentarian from Bihar, Kirti Azad, and former federal official Ashish Joshi, who was one of the first to join the 'Cockroach Janta Party' after learning about it from social media.
"In the last decade, there has been too much fear in the country. People are afraid to speak openly," Joshi said in an interview with the publication, commenting on the pressure from Indian authorities on dissenters. According to him, the political atmosphere in India has become so stagnant that the 'Cockroach Janta Party' is perceived by many as a breath of fresh air.
The publication notes that despite the rapid growth of the Indian economy in recent years, the country faces a number of deep social problems. Wealth inequality and the cost of living continue to rise in India, and one of the main issues for the younger generation remains unemployment.
Every year, Indian universities graduate more than 8 million people. However, the unemployment rate among graduates reaches 29.1%. This is nine times higher than among people who have never received a school education. Moreover, Generation Z currently accounts for more than a quarter of India's population. No other country in the world has such a number of Zoomers.
Against the backdrop of the popularity of the 'Cockroach Janta Party', the image of the insect has begun to extend beyond social media and appear at street protests. On May 24, according to India Tribune, "cockroach protests" by youth took place in Madurai and Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu to draw attention to issues of unemployment, violations of youth rights in education, corruption, and rising fuel prices.
The 'Cockroach Janta Party' has not limited itself to satire on the Indian political system, corruption, and the indifference of authorities to youth issues, but has also put forward quite serious political demands, notes France 24. In its program, the party called for the protection of citizens' free will, ensuring 50% representation of women, and guaranteeing press independence.
The popularity of the movement has also provoked a sharp reaction from its opponents. In an interview with the publication, Abhijit Dipke stated that he and his supporters faced pressure from the authorities. According to him, both the official account of the movement on Instagram and his personal page on the social network were hacked. The movement's account on X was blocked in India, and the party's website was temporarily taken down, although it later became accessible again. In addition, activists began to receive insults and threats of physical violence online.
Indian authorities have also publicly criticized the movement for its "artificially created" popularity. For instance, India's Minister of Minority Affairs, Kiren Rijiju, stated that a significant portion of the 22 million followers of the 'Cockroach Janta Party' are allegedly bots or users from Pakistan and the USA. Dipke refuted these accusations by publishing statistics from the Instagram account, which shows that 94% of the followers are located in India.
As noted by France 24, the creators of the movement are currently trying to determine what the next stage will be. According to Abhijit Dipke, before making further decisions, the 'Cockroach Janta Party' intends to listen to the opinions of its supporters. He stated that the organizers plan to "contact all 10 million registered participants and 22 million Instagram followers, gather their suggestions, advice, and ideas on how to further develop the movement."
