Ahh cockroaches: the creepy crawlies that most are frightened of and others are disgusted by. It’s summers, meaning they are back. Here, there and everywhere. But we aren’t talking about the flying beings on your walls or kitchen corners. A certain Cockroach has taken the nation by storm, bringing India’s youth together, and emerging as an internet sensation. The ‘Cockroach Janta Party’, founded by US-based Abhijeet Dipke, is the pest that everyone wants to follow.
And on Thursday, the CJP was at the centre of a roller-coaster of ride – conquering social media and taunting critics, and all that. It’s as if this Cockroach just wouldn’t go away.
Here’s how it crawled through the day:
The day started with the Cockroach Janta Party overtaking BJP’s 8.7 million followers. Hours later, it beat the most followed Indian political party on the social media platform, Congress, which has 13.3 million followers. By afternoon, the meme-based, satirical CJP had 15 million followers that it managed within only five days.
Soon after the group surpassed the BJP’s follower count on Instagram, the Cockroach Janta Party‘s X account was blocked in India. Abhijeet Dipke shared a screenshot of the development, saying that the development was “expected”.
“As expected, the Cockroach Janta Party’s account has been withheld in India,” he tweeted from his personal account.
X said that the account was withheld due to legal reasons.
But the cockroach came back. Within hours, the group created a new account and shared two posts from the same, mocking its critics. The first post read, “You thought you can get rid of us? Lol”, while the second one contained screenshots comparing the followers of the group and the BJP on Instagram with the caption, “The reason why they blocked us.”
At the time of writing this report, the CJP’s X account has over 53,000 followers. It has also shared a third post now that says “Dharmendra Pradhan must resign!”
Two trademark applications have been filed for the satirical outfit. According to records on the Trade Marks Registry’s public search portal, two independent applications have been submitted for the wordmark ‘Cockroach Janta Party’ under Class 45, which covers legal and selective personal services.
The first application was filed by Azim Adambhai Jam for the wordmark ‘COCKROACH JANTA PARTY’. The second application was filed by Akhand Swaroop for ‘Cockroach Janta Party’.
The Cockroach Janta Party was born after the recent remarks made by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, who compared India’s unemployed youth who turned to journalism, social media and RTI activism, to “cockroaches” and “parasites”. The remarks spiralled and drew massive backlash, following which the Chief Justice clarified that his comments were only aimed at people entering professions with fake degrees.
Source: India Today
