Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has resigned from his post. Dipke thanked CJI Surya Kant for Pradhan’s resignation. Dipke said- If you had not called us cockroaches, the youth would not have been on the streets. Pradhan would not have resigned.
Abhijeet also said- We are cockroaches. Once we get in, we don’t leave easily. Only one resignation has happened so far. Don’t mess with cockroaches.
Actually, this entire story started 72 days ago with CJI Suryakant’s oral remark. On May 15, the CJI’s bench in the Supreme Court was hearing a lawyer’s petition.
During this, he had said- Some unemployed youth are like cockroaches, who later become media, social media or RTI activists and start attacking the system.
The cockroach remark inadvertently gave this movement its identifying symbol. Students adopted the word that was used to mock the protest.
Social media was flooded with cockroach emojis, memes started being created overnight, artists made cartoons, and satirical posters began circulating on campus.
Deepke transformed this insult into the ‘Cockroach Janata Party’, which initially started as a satirical social media page and later became the face of the student movement.
When one of its social media accounts was removed, it returned with another account named “Cockroach Is Back”, with the tagline – “Cockroaches never die.”
CJP chose the digital route, not the street
Unlike many student movements of the past, this gained momentum online before taking to the streets. CJP quickly became one of the country’s largest digital communities. Today, CJP has approximately 2.63 crore (26.3 million) followers on Instagram, while Congress has approximately 1.48 crore (14.8 million) and BJP has 95 lakh (9.5 million) followers.
When this statement by the CJI came to light, opposition began. Leaders, people, and social media started criticizing this statement.
The very next day, i.e., on May 16, CJI Suryakant reached Jabalpur to attend an event at the Madhya Pradesh High Court. There he clarified his cockroach comment.
CJI Suryakant said-
It is completely baseless to say that I criticized the youth of the country. It was sad to read that a section of the media misrepresented my oral comments during the hearing of a trivial matter. I had criticized those who entered the legal profession with fake and forged degrees.
But the matter had gone too far. At 12 midnight on May 16, Abhijeet Dipke created a social media page named the Cockroach Janta Party. From that day till July 25, i.e., in about 72 days, the CJP formed after this statement remained the most discussed in the country.
How Cockroach Janta Party was formed
At 12 midnight on May 16, Abhijeet Dipke created a social media page named the Cockroach Janta Party. An account was also created on Instagram. A website was also created.
A Google form was released on X. It had a caption with an image that read ‘Cockroach Janta Party’ – ‘A new platform is being launched for all cockroaches. If you want to join, click on the link.
Four essential qualifications were mentioned to join the party – ‘Unemployed, Lazy, Chronically Online, Ability to Rant Professionally.’ After this, people continuously started joining CJP.
From May 17 to 20, Cockroach Party’s followers kept increasing, but on May 21, its accounts were shut down. On the same day, a second account was created with the name Cockroach Is Back. On May 22, Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation was demanded first.
On May 24, an online petition was released on the website. 10 lakh people demanding Pradhan’s resignation had registered on it.
CJP is still not registered today
The Cockroach Janata Party, i.e., CJP, is not formally a registered political party with the Election Commission. Its website satirically states that it is a non-registered party under the Cockroach Act with the No Election Commission of Cockroachistan. 30-year-old Abhijeet Dipke is its founder. The same Dipke who was the leader of the Jantar Mantar protest.
