Laugh if you want but cockroaches uniting, joining ‘Cockroach Janta Party’ in droves

The website of the party reads: A political party for the people the system forgot to count. Five demands. Zero sponsors. One large, stubborn swarm. Voice of the Lazy and Unemployed. Stronger Together. They tried to step on us. We came back.  We are not here to set up another PM CARES, holiday in Davos on the taxpayer's salary slip, or rebrand corruption as "strategic spending". Vision: We are here to ask — loudly, repeatedly, in writing — where the money went. Mission: Build a party for the young people who keep getting called lazy, chronically online, and — most recently — cockroaches. That's it. That's the mission. The rest is satire.

The satirical lunge or feint was almost certainly inspired by the outburst of the Chief Justice of India Surya Kant in court last week. He appeared to describe jobless youth joining as lawyers and journalists or acting as RTI activists as cockroaches attacking the system. He also said they were like parasites. The backlash forced him to issue a clarification that he was misquoted, which, thanks to live streaming of court proceedings, was swiftly challenged.

The digital counterattack has appealed to a large cross-section of people. Within 24 hours since Saturday, 16 May 2026, the digital platform claimed to have crossed 20,000 members. It came out with a political symbol and a manifesto in line with the ideals of the Indian Constitution. “While this may have started out as a gag, it is now turning serious and people are already beginning to see a new political movement possibility driven by Gen Z. Watch this space. We are seeing the birth of a new political movement in India in the digital space with people declaring “I am a cockroach”, and “cockroach power”.

The somewhat subversive satire is fast acquiring a life of its own. Photographs of young men cleaning garbage dumps and shallow waterbodies with placards stating, “I am a cockroach’, hung round their neck have surfaced. Memes and several campaign songs, good the bad and the ugly among them, have also been composed.

A few lines in one of the English lyrics with catchy music reads, “We survived your slogans, survived your lies/ Survived your sirens and your prime-time cries” going on to state, “Every wall you build in fear/Makes our footsteps louder here”.

On Saturday it started as an innocuous and amusing initiative. “Launching a new platform for all the “cockroaches” out there. If you wish to join, hit the link below. Eligibility criteria: • Unemployed • Lazy • Chronically online • Ability to rant professionally” tweeted Abhijeet Dipke. By Sunday evening, the gag turned more serious. Cockroach Janta Party, which described itself as a political front of the youth, by the youth, for the youth and also as secular, socialist, democratic, and lazy, was on a roll. It toyed with the idea of holding a digital convention and even a march of the unemployed.

Its mocking manifesto promised that if voted to power, “no Chief Justice shall be granted a Rajya Sabha seat as a post-retirement reward; If any legit vote is deleted, whether in a CJP or opposition-ruled state, the CEC shall be arrested under UAPA, as taking away voting rights of citizens is no less than terrorism; women shall receive 50 per cent reservation, not 33 p.c., without increasing the strength of Parliament; and 50 per cent of all cabinet positions shall be reserved for women.”  

Within hours suggestions were pouring in, and the platform swiftly added two more commitments: “All media houses owned by Ambani and Adani shall have their licences cancelled to make way for truly independent media. Bank accounts of Godi media anchors shall be investigated. 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.”

It also seemed to have struck an emotional chord with students, stating that it stood with ‘every student who has been a victim of exam frauds like NEET and CBSE. We demand that CBSE immediately scrap the rechecking fee. If the mistake was made by CBSE itself, students should not be forced to pay for it. This is blatant corruption!’.

It remains to be seen where it goes and whether it fizzle out or grows into a more substantial political movement. For the moment, however, indulgent social media users seem to be having fun with the platform. Even more serious handles like Maadhyam, which has been agitating for parliamentary reforms, and MPs like Kirti Azad and Mahua Moitra voiced their interest in joining the party. Well, it has been a merry ride so far.