MAY 22, 2026
India's "Cockroach Janta Party" draws millions of young followers after chief justice's remarks on unemployed youth
A satirical online movement called the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) emerged in India in mid-May 2026, amassing millions of Instagram followers within days after Supreme Court Chief Justice Surya Kant made remarks during a court hearing that were widely interpreted as comparing unemployed young people to cockroaches. Kant later clarified the remarks were directed at people who obtained fraudulent degrees, but the backlash had already spread widely. The movement was founded by Abhijeet Dipke, a political communications strategist and Boston University student who previously worked with the Aam Aadmi Party.
The Cockroach Janta Party, whose name is a satirical reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, set up its website and social media accounts on a Saturday in May 2026. By Thursday of the same week, its Instagram page had surpassed the BJP's own Instagram following — CNN reported the CJP had reached more than 19 million followers, nearly double the government's audience, while the AP reported more than 15 million followers and noted the BJP had 8.8 million on the platform.
The movement traces its origin to a May 15 court hearing in which Chief Justice Surya Kant said, "There are youngsters like cockroaches, who don't get any employment or have any place in the profession," according to both outlets. The AP reported that Kant's full remarks also criticized some unemployed youth and activists for "attacking everyone" through social media, journalism, and public interest campaigns, describing them as "parasites." Kant subsequently clarified that he was referring to people who obtained fraudulent degrees and said he did not intend to insult India's youth.
The CJP leans into self-mockery in its structure: its membership criteria requires applicants to be "unemployed" and "lazy," a deliberate inversion of the chief justice's remarks. Its manifesto addresses opposition allegations of voter manipulation, criticism of media ties to the government, and the appointment of retired judges to official posts, according to the AP. CNN additionally reported that the manifesto calls for canceling the broadcast licenses of media outlets owned by industrialists Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani, described as being close to Modi.