On May 16, Abhijeet Dipke launched the Cockroach Janta Party, a satirical digital political group, after Chief Justice of India Surya Kant made remarks referring to “parasites” and “cockroaches.” Within hours, the party went viral online and amassed millions of followers across social media platforms.
The Cockroach Janta Party now has more than 19 million followers on Instagram, surpassing any other political party in India. On X, it had more than 200,000 followers before becoming inaccessible Thursday following a legal demand in India.
The party has drawn support from politicians, activists, artists and millions of social media users.
Dipke, 30, studied journalism for his undergraduate degree in Pune. He is pursuing a master’s degree in public relations at Boston University, according to reports. From 2020 to 2023, he was associated with the Aam Aadmi Party and volunteered on its social media team.
The Cockroach Janta Party’s website describes itself as “a political party for the people the system forgot to count. Five demands. Zero sponsors. One large, stubborn swarm.” It calls itself “the voice of the lazy and unemployed.”
According to the party’s website, eligibility criteria require a person to be “unemployed, lazy, and chronically online” with the “ability to rant professionally” to join.
