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More Judiciary Education YourTurn Work With Us Campus Voice

Cockroach Janta Party faces its first street test today. Will it go beyond virality?

With a major Jantar Mantar protest planned for today and its founder Abhijeet Dipke flying down from the US, the Cockroach Janta Party is no longer joking.

New Delhi: Ever since the Cockroach Janta Party became a viral phenomenon last month, the question has been: will they, or won’t they? Will they move from online satire to on-ground activism? Lead a youth mobilisation like the Gen Z uprising in Nepal? This week has yielded some clues.

With its first formal press meet, three spokespersons appointed, and a major Jantar Mantar protest planned for today, the CJP is no longer joking.

Now, founder Abhijeet Dipke is flying down to India, asking his “cockroaches” to “Assemble” in true Marvel style. Before leaving the US—where he recently completed a master’s degree at Boston University—Dipke posted on X on Friday that he was on his way home.

“Leaving my fate in the hands of the Constitution,” he wrote, with the hashtag JaiBhim.

On my way to India… Leaving my fate in the hands of the Constitution. #JaiBhim — Abhijeet Dipke (@abhijeet_dipke) June 5, 2026

Leaving my fate in the hands of the Constitution. #JaiBhim

— Abhijeet Dipke (@abhijeet_dipke) June 5, 2026

This was probably the first time Dipke, a Dalit from Maharashtra, had written Jai Bhim, a slogan hailing Dr BR Ambedkar, since CJP took over the internet with a follower count of over 22 million on Instagram, famously exceeding even that of the official BJP handle, and nearly 1.7 lakh on X.

It may have remained just satire, a response to a remark by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant describing some unemployed youth as “cockroaches”, had it not been for the groundswell of both support and opposition. Its X page was blocked on 21 May under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, even as Opposition leaders such as Mahua Moitra, Kirti Azad, Derek O’Brien, and Manish Sisodia spoke up in support of the party.

Legions........

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