Cockroach Janta Party (Image/website)
NEW DELHI: The rapid rise of satirical digital platform ‘Cockroach Janta Party’ (CJP) on social media has left the parents of its founder, Abhijeet Dipke, worried that their son could land in legal trouble or even face arrest over his political satire content.Dipke, a student at Boston University and a former associate of Aam Aadmi Party, launched the satirical digital campaign barely a week ago. Since then, the platform has gained massive traction online, with its Instagram account crossing 19 million followers.Speaking to a Marathi news channel, Dipke’s parents Bhagwan Dipke and Anita Dipke, who live in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, said they were deeply anxious about their son’s growing popularity and involvement in political commentary, PTI reported. “If we look at politics nowadays, fear is natural, no matter how many followers he has. In one of his interviews, he himself expressed fear of being arrested after returning to India. We read about such incidents in newspapers,” Bhagwan Dipke said.His mother Anita Dipke said she wanted her son to stay away from politics and focus instead on building a career.”We just want him to come home safely. Whether he continues in politics will be his decision, but we do not want him to pursue it. I do not know whether he will listen to us or not. I will not support him in this. I am worried about him,” she said.According to his parents, Abhijeet studied in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar before moving to Pune for higher education. His mother said engineering studies were difficult for him, following which he shifted towards mass media and journalism.Bhagwan Dipke said his son later moved abroad for journalism studies as his sister was already living there. He added that he had wanted Abhijeet to take up a regular job in cities like Pune or Delhi instead of entering politics.The parents said they first came to know about the Cockroach Janta Party through neighbours and family members.”Later, I was told by one of my grandchildren that he has more followers on social media than many prominent people in the country. Earlier, he had worked with AAP. Even then, I had told him that we were not into politics and that he should pursue a service,” Anita said.Bhagwan Dipke admitted that the sudden popularity of the platform has left him sleepless.”I’m worried because he is now famous. And such individuals get arrested. I have not slept for the past two nights worrying about what might happen to him. I hate politics and have no interest in it,” he said.The ‘Cockroach Janta Party’ trend emerged after controversy surrounding remarks allegedly made by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant during a hearing on a plea seeking senior designation for a lawyer. According to Dipke, the idea was inspired after reports claimed the Chief Justice used the terms ‘parasites’ and ‘cockroaches’ while criticising individuals entering the legal profession through fake degrees.The Chief Justice later clarified that he had been misquoted and that the remarks were directed specifically at people obtaining ‘fake and bogus degrees’.Despite that clarification, the Cockroach Janta Party using a cockroach as its symbol quickly went viral online through memes, satire, graphics and political commentary.Much of the platform’s content focuses on issues concerning young people, including unemployment, exam paper leaks and education, packaged in the form of satirical manifestos and campaign-style posts.Dipke had described the movement on social media as the ‘voice of the lazy and unemployed’.The platform also faced regulatory action after its X account was withheld in India in response to a legal demand. Hours later, Dipke announced the launch of another account titled ‘Cockroach Is Back’.
