It started as a satirical online project after a Supreme Court judge compared unemployed young people to cockroaches. Now millions of young Indians are rallying to it as an outlet for their frustrations.
The parade political party with a cockroach as its symbol has exploded on Indian social media by turning absurd humor into protest action. Memes and short videos mocking corruption, unemployment, and political inefficiency have flooded social media sites where millions of users are adopting the cockroach – an insect known for its ability to survive in harsh conditions – as a language of resilience.
The growth of the online movement has been unusually fast. The Cockroach Janata Party, or CJP, created its website and social media accounts on Saturday. By Thursday, its Instagram page had gained more than 15 million followers, far surpassing the 8.8 million followers of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling BJP party on the platform.
“There was nothing intended for this,” said Abhijeet Dipke, founder of the CJP, a political strategist, and a student at Boston University.
The movement's growth reflected the growing frustration of young Indians, he said. “It’s young people who are actually really frustrated. They didn’t have any outlet. They were really angry at the government.”
The CJP emerged in response to comments made by Chief Justice of India, Surya Kant, which sparked outrage among young Indians over unemployment, rising living costs, and government exam leaks that have disrupted recruitment processes.
Last week during a hearing, Kant criticized what he described as “parasites” attacking institutions and compared some unemployed young people and activists to cockroaches.
“There are young people like cockroaches who have no job or place in a profession,” Kant said. He said some were turning to social media activism, journalism, or public interest campaigns and “starting to attack everyone.”
Comments quickly spread online, with many seeing them as demeaning. Kant later clarified that his remarks were about people with fraudulent degrees and said he did not intend to insult India's youth.
But the controversy soon led to the creation of a CJP account on Instagram, which adopted the cockroach as a political symbol and began posting memes, satirical campaign slogans, and satirical comments targeting Modi's government. Within days, it attracted thousands of online volunteers through a Google form submission, as well as some endorsement from opposition leaders.
“We need to understand that five years ago nobody was ready to call out Modi or the government. Times are changing,” Dipke said, who previously worked with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which emerged from India's anti-corruption movement in 2012.
Dipke said the CJP was not affiliated with any real political organization. But its growth echoes a broader trend across South Asia, where young people have played a central role in anti-government movements in recent years, including uprisings in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh and unrest in Nepal.
“Young people are really frustrated, and the government is not recognizing their problems,” Dipke said.
The pressure is particularly acute in India, where young people make up a quarter of the population but many face a shortage of job opportunities and persistent unemployment. Many young voters are also angry at Modi's ruling Hindu nationalist party over issues such as religious polarization, rising inequality, and economic pressure.
The CJP relies heavily on self-deprecating humor. Its satirical membership criteria include being unemployed, lazy, chronically online, and able to complain professionally. Its manifesto, using satire, addresses several controversial issues in Indian politics, including accusations of voter manipulation, criticism of the relationship between corporate media and the government, and the appointment of retired judges to official posts.
Some opponents, many of whom are Modi supporters, have dismissed it as an online political joke linked to the opposition, citing Dipke's past association with AAP. They also say the surge in popularity is likely to fade as quickly as it appeared, arguing it is a digital campaign rather than a grassroots movement.
But Dipke said what began online is unlikely to stay there. “This is a movement that has come to India... it will change the political discourse,” he said. “It will continue online and if needed, it will also appear offline.”
The movement has already begun to slowly seep offline, with some young volunteers appearing at protests dressed as cockroaches. Apparent resistance has also emerged.
On Thursday, Dipke wrote on X that the CJP's account on the platform, which had about 200,000 followers, had been suspended in India – marking one of the first visible restrictions on the movement. The reason was not immediately clear.
Within minutes, he announced a new account for the group, accompanied by a post saying: “The cockroach is back.” He added: “You thought you could get away from us? LOL.”
