Highlights:
What began as a satirical online campaign has quickly become one of India’s biggest social media political movements. The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), a meme-driven digital campaign born out of outrage and online humor, crossed 15 million Instagram followers in just five days. In the process, it overtook the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and even surpassed the follower count of the Indian National Congress on Instagram.
The movement started after controversial remarks by Surya Kant during a court hearing on May 15. The campaign is led by founder Abhijeet Dipke and has rapidly become a symbol of youth frustration over unemployment, exam paper leaks, and political accountability.
The Instagram handle @cockroachjantaparty crossed 15 million followers on Thursday (21). By comparison, the BJP’s official Instagram account has around 8.7 million followers, while Congress has around 13.2 million followers. The Aam Aadmi Party has around 1.9 million followers on Instagram.
How the Cockroach Janta Party started
The movement began after remarks made by Chief Justice Surya Kant during a hearing related to a lawyer’s social media activity. During the hearing, he said, “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.”
The comments quickly sparked outrage online. Many social media users criticized the statement, especially because it came from the Chief Justice of India.
Abhijeet Dipke later explained why the remarks triggered such a strong reaction.
“I think the remarks were more triggering because they came from the Chief Justice of India, who is the custodian of the Constitution, which grants us freedom of expression. Someone who is there to safeguard our freedom of expression is comparing us to cockroaches and parasites just for putting forward our opinions. That was the more hurtful part,” Dipke said.
Dipke added that similar remarks from political leaders may not have caused the same reaction.
“Had this comment been made by anybody else from the ruling party, which they normally do, it wouldn't have caused such a stir. But it came from someone who is supposed to protect our freedom of expression,” he said.
A day later, Chief Justice Surya Kant issued a clarification. He said he had been misquoted by a section of the media.
“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,” he said.
He clarified that his comments were aimed at people using fake degrees to enter professions.
“What I had specifically criticised were those who have entered professions like the Bar with the aid of fake and bogus degrees. Similar people have sneaked into the media, social media, and other noble professions as well, and hence, they are like parasites. It is totally baseless to suggest that I criticised the youth of our nation,” he added.
Despite the clarification, the online movement continued to grow rapidly.
Social media growth and youth support
The Cockroach Janta Party describes itself as “a political front of the youth, by the youth, for the youth.” Within 78 hours of launch, the account reportedly crossed 3 million followers before reaching more than 10 million in less than five days.
The account has posted only around 56 times so far. Despite that, it surpassed the BJP’s follower count, even though the ruling party has shared more than 18,000 posts over the years.
The movement marked the milestone with a message saying, “Don’t underestimate the power of youth.”
In another viral post after crossing the BJP’s follower count, the account wrote, “World’s largest party, they said.”
The BJP remains the world’s largest political party by membership, with more than 140 million members globally.
The movement has also gained support on X, where it crossed more than 180,000 followers by May 21. BJP has 23 million followers on X, while Congress has 11.5 million followers.
Supporters of the movement include YouTubers, influencers, activists, and politicians. These include Dhruv Rathee, activist-lawyer Prashant Bhushan, and Mahua Moitra and Kirti Azad from the All India Trinamool Congress.
Prashant Bhushan urged the movement to raise issues like the NEET paper leak and unemployment.
“The Cockroach Janta Party has acquired 10.3M followers on Instagram in 4 days, more than the BJP. It has promise if steered wisely & imaginatively. It must, of course, raise NEET paper leak & seek accountability of Dharmendra Pradhan,” Bhushan posted on X.
He also said, “Time to demand a right to Employment law. All people between 21 and 60 must have the right to be employed at least the minimum wage, failing which they must receive unemployment allowance.”
A digital movement beyond memes
As the movement expanded, supporters began discussing unofficial “state units” online. One supporter claiming to represent a “CJP Uttarakhand unit” posted a video asking for official recognition.
Still, Dipke said the movement does not want established politicians joining it.
“Gen Z wouldn't like it if current politicians joined the CJP,” he said.
According to Dipke, the movement reflects real frustration among young people rather than a planned online campaign.
“I think, India ka Gen Z hamesha yahi tha,” Dipke said.
“Look at the kind of support we have received in just three days. Do you really think that is possible through any orchestrated campaign? No, it is not. It is frustration,” he added.
When asked if the movement was just a social media trend, Dipke rejected the idea.
“If it were just a trend, more than two lakh people would not have registered on the website. Trends on social media don’t last beyond 24 to 48 hours,” he said.
What started as an online joke has now become a major digital political conversation driven by memes, criticism, and growing frustration among young Indians.
