New Delhi: What started as a satirical internet experiment has rapidly transformed into a major outlet for the frustrations of millions of young Indians.
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A parody political group called the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), using the cockroach as its emblem, has surged across Indian social media by mixing absurd humour with political criticism. Through memes and short videos, the movement mocks corruption, unemployment, and political failures. Many young users have adopted the cockroach — famous for surviving extreme conditions — as a sarcastic symbol of resilience.
The movement’s growth has been strikingly fast. The CJP launched its website and social media pages on Saturday, and by Thursday its Instagram account had crossed 15 million followers, overtaking the 8.8 million followers of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party on the platform.
“Nothing of this was intentional,” CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke told The Associated Press, explaining that the movement’s popularity reflected growing dissatisfaction among India’s youth.
“It is the younger people who were actually very frustrated. They didn’t have any outlet. They were really angry at the government,” said Dipke, who works as a political communications strategist and studies at Boston University.
The CJP gained momentum online after comments made by Supreme Court Chief Justice Surya Kant drew criticism from young Indians already upset over unemployment, inflation, and repeated leaks of government recruitment exam papers.
During a court hearing last week, Kant condemned what he called “parasites” undermining institutions and compared some unemployed youth and activists to cockroaches.
“There are youngsters like cockroaches, who don’t get any employment or have any place in the profession,” Kant said. He added that some individuals turned to activism on social media, journalism, or public interest campaigns and “start attacking everyone.”
The remarks quickly went viral online, where many interpreted them as insulting and dismissive toward young people. Kant later clarified that he was referring to individuals with fake degrees and insisted he had not meant to offend India’s youth.
Even so, the backlash soon inspired the creation of the parody CJP Instagram account. Adopting the cockroach as its emblem, the page began sharing memes, fake campaign material, and satirical political commentary aimed at the government.
Within just a few days, the movement reportedly attracted tens of thousands of volunteers through Google form sign-ups and also received backing from several opposition politicians.