Cockroach Janta Party founder to return to India for New Delhi protest

NEW DELHI: The founder of India’s satirical Cockroach Janta Party said he plans to return to the country to lead a protest in the capital, taking a social media campaign that has drawn millions of followers into a street mobilisation.

The parody group, whose name echoes Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, emerged last month and quickly gained traction online. The movement was launched after Chief Justice Surya Kant reportedly referred during a court hearing to young people criticising the government as cockroaches and parasites. Kant later said the remarks had been taken out of context and that he had been speaking about people using fake degrees.

Abhijeet Dipke, a 30-year-old Boston University graduate who started the online campaign, said in a post on X that he would travel to India to lead a peaceful protest on Saturday. He also called for Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to resign amid criticism over alleged irregularities in several major examinations.

In a video message posted online, Dipke said students had suffered severely because of the examination controversy.

"Students have committed suicide and the hard work of tens of thousands of students has been destroyed,"

Dipke’s social media campaign describes itself as a political front for the youth, by the youth, for the youth. Its accounts have been repeatedly blocked in India. Even so, the group’s Instagram account has grown to more than 22 million followers, surpassing the BJP’s 9.5 million followers on the platform and the main opposition Congress Party’s 13.9 million.

Dipke urged supporters to gather at New Delhi airport and accompany him as he seeks police permission to hold the demonstration. He said people close to him feared he could be detained upon arrival.

"My friends and family are afraid that I will be arrested right at the airport and then sent to jail,"

He added that he still hoped India remained a democracy and that authorities would allow a peaceful protest.

But I still hope that our country is still a democracy today and that we will be granted permission to protest peacefully.

Critics have repeatedly accused Modi’s government of using state institutions to curb dissent, an allegation the government denies.