India’s internet is buzzing over the sudden rise of the Cockroach Janata Party. This sarcastic political movement has rapidly transformed from an online joke into one of the country’s most talked about digital movements. But why the word cockroach? Actually, it was formed after the Chief Justice of India, Surya Kant, compared unemployed youth to cockroaches. Though the CJI later clarified the context of his comment and said that he was misquoted, since then, the party has gained massive traction on social media with its unusual slogan: “Secular, Socialist, Democratic, and Lazy,” calling itself a political front of the youth, by the youth, for the youth. The movement has attracted lakhs of views,
thousands of comments, and a growing number of followers within just a few days of its launch. The party’s Instagram page has crossed 11 million followers, which is more than PM Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party. [Sudden loud gasp] The party has racked up more than 1 lakh sign-ups along with a website and a party anthem. Unlike traditional political parties that focus on leadership, experience, or ideological alignment, the Cockroach Janata Party introduced deliberately ironic eligibility rules to join: a person must be unemployed, must be lazy, and must be able to run professionally. It has also garnered the backing of prominent politicians such as Mahua Moitra, Kirti Azad, and Prashant Bhushan, despite its sarcastic framing.
The movement has articulated a set of bold policy ideas, like if the CJP comes into power, no Chief Justice shall be granted a Rajya Sabha seat as a post-retirement reward. If any legitimate vote is deleted, whether in a CJP or opposition-ruled state, the Chief Election Commissioner shall be arrested under UAPA, as taking away the voting rights of citizens is no less than terrorism. Women shall receive 50% reservation, not 33%, without increasing the strength of Parliament. Additionally, 50% of all cabinet positions shall be reserved for women. It also mentions that when CJP comes into power, it will cancel all corporate media licenses. Any MLA or MP who defects from one party to another shall be barred from contesting elections and from holding any public office for a period of 20 years. But who is the man behind it? It’s Abheet Deepke. He is a 30-year-old political communication strategist.
His work focuses on narrative building, public messaging, and how digital platforms shape political opinions. He studied journalism in Pune for his undergraduate degree and later moved to the US for higher education. At Boston University, he completed a Master’s in Public Relations, where he studied how communication influences public perception in the digital age.
Between 2020 and 2022, he volunteered with the opposition Aam Aadmi Party’s social media team, and during the 2020 Delhi Assembly elections won by the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP in February, he worked on meme-based digital campaigning that shaped online political engagement. In 2023, he returned to Aurangabad, Maharashtra, while preparing for his US applications. That period eventually led him to experiment with a different format of political expression. Hope you found this video informative, and for more such content, keep watching NDTV.
