Satirical 'cockroach' party overtakes Modi's BJP on Instagram

The Cockroach Janata Party (CJP), a satirical online political movement, has become India's unlikely political sensation, amassing over 10.8 million Instagram followers in just days and overtaking Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has approximately 8.7 million followers on the platform. The movement emerged after Chief Justice of India Surya Kant faced backlash for comparing unemployed youth to "cockroaches" and "parasites" during a court hearing on May 15, while discussing fake degrees. Justice Kant later clarified that his remarks were specifically directed at people using fraudulent credentials rather than India's youth broadly. Founded by Abhijeet Dipke, a political communications strategist and student at Boston University who previously worked with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the CJP offers membership to those who are "unemployed, lazy, and chronically online," and presents a satirical five-point manifesto calling for anti-corruption measures, election bans for defecting politicians, and 50 percent reservation for women in Parliament. The movement has drawn support from opposition politicians including Mahua Moitra and Kirti Azad, as well as senior lawyer Prashant Bhushan, who see it as a reflection of deep frustration among young Indians. India has one of the world's youngest populations with roughly half of its 1.4 billion people under 30, yet recent surveys indicate that only 11 percent are members of political parties and 29 percent actively avoid political engagement altogether. Meanwhile, the CJP's X account has been withheld in India in response to a legal demand, though the group quickly launched an alternative account titled "Cockroach is Back." While the party has been dismissed by critics as online political theater with calculated digital strategy, Dipke maintains the movement represents genuine generational fatigue with traditional politics. "Gen Z has given up on traditional political parties and wants to create its own political front in a language they understand," he said. In separate developments, Prime Minister Modi concluded a five-nation tour in Italy, where India and Rome elevated their bilateral ties to a "Special Strategic Partnership," with both countries aiming to raise trade to 20 billion euros within three years. Meanwhile, Delhi and much of northwest, central, and east India continue to experience severe heatwave conditions, with the capital recording a maximum temperature of 46 degrees Celsius, prompting authorities to extend summer vacations for schools and deploy relief vans across the city.