A cockroach is the new political star in India: he is “the voice of the lazy and unemployed”

Statements by the President of the Supreme Court of India were the “final straw” that led to the creation of CJP, an online collective that already has more than 10 million followers. “Generation Z has given up on traditional political parties.”

Indian politics gained an unusual mascot: the cheap. It is not the lotus of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the ruling party in India, nor the hand symbol of the opposition Congress Party, but rather a cockroach, stubborn, hated and considered indestructible, which has recently become an unlikely political symbol, but with which young Indians identify online.

The insect gained prominence last week after controversial comments made by the Chief Justice of India, Surya Kant. During a hearing, he compared unemployed young people who are migrating to journalism and activism to cockroaches and parasites.

The official later clarified that he was specifically referring to people with “fake and fraudulent degrees” and not India’s youth in general. But by then, his statements had spread across the Internet, sparking outrage, jokes, and a satirical political uprising called “Cockroach Janta Party” — or Partido do Povo Barata, in Portuguese, with the acronym CJP in English.

It is not a formal political party, but a online collective Strongly satirical whose membership criteria include being unemployed, being lazy, spending too much time online and having “the professional competence to complain”.

A joke that became a serious matter

The “party” was created by Abhijeet Dipkepolitical communications strategist and Boston University student. He says the idea came about as a joke.

Before moving to the US, Dipke worked with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which grew out of an anti-corruption movement and is known for its strong social media presence.

“I thought we should all come together, maybe just create a platform,” he told the BBC. What happened next was much bigger than I expected.

In a few days, the CJP accumulated tens of thousands of registrations through a Google form, it inspired the hashtag #MainBhiCockroach (“I’m also a cockroach”) and received support from opposition leaders. The movement also left the online environment, with young people willingly appearing dressed as cockroaches in cleaning actions and protests, in a theatrical adherence to the label.

On Thursday, CJP’s Instagram account surpassed 10 million followerssurpassing the official account of the BJP — known as the largest political party in the world in terms of number of members and which has around 8.7 million followers.

However, his X account, with over 200,000 followers, is currently blocked in India. People who try to access are informed that the account is blocked “in response to a legal requirement”.

“Breath of fresh air” for one of the youngest populations in the world

But the momentum continues to grow. For supporters, the movement represents what one person described as “a breath of fresh air” in a political culture that many consider overly controlled and hostile to dissent. Supporters include opposition politicians like Mahua Moitra and Kirti Azad, as well as senior lawyer Prashant Bhushan.

Critics dismiss it as mere online political theater linked to the opposition, pointing to Dipke’s previous connection to the AAP and arguing that it is less about a spontaneous rebellion and more about carefully crafted digital politics.

In addition to the immediate reactions, the movement has become an indicator of generational fatigue among many young Indians who say they are constantly exposed to online politics but rarely feel represented by it.

A India has one of the youngest populations in the worldwith around half of its 1.4 billion inhabitants under the age of 30. However, formal political participation remains limited. A recent study found that 29% of young Indians avoided political involvement altogether, while only 11% were members of a political party.

“People are frustrated because they don’t feel heard or represented,” Dipke said.

Across South Asia in recent years, there have been waves of youth-led protests that have shaken governments in Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh, often driven by dissatisfaction with stagnant jobs, prices and prospects.

Until now, India has avoided something similar, but the underlying pressures are familiar. A rapidly growing economy has not dispelled concerns about work, inequality or the rising cost of simply surviving.

For many entering adulthood, education no longer guarantees stability, and the promise of upward social mobility can seem increasingly fragile.

While Dipke rejects comparisons with the uprisings in Nepal or Sri Lanka, saying the situation in India is different, he says frustration among young people remains real — just expressed in more fragmented ways and online.

“Generation Z has given up on traditional political parties and wants to create their own political front in a language they understand”these.

The CJP website reflects this sensibility, feeling less like a manifesto and more like something shaped by Internet culture. It is described as “the voice of the lazy and unemployed”while claiming to have “zero sponsors” and “a stubborn swarm”, inviting supporters to join a movement for people “tired of pretending everything is fine”.

There are fake forms, purposeful imperfections and a visual language that is closer to a private joke than an institution.

And yet, behind the humor are recognizable political demands: accountability, media reform, electoral transparency and greater representation of women. They appear side by side with self-deprecating jokes about excessive content consumption, unemployment and widespread political exhaustion.

The tone, somewhere between parody and sincerity, is part of its appeal. The jokes work because the frustrations behind them are familiar: jobs, inequality, corruption and political alienation.

Many pointed out that even the choice of mascot makes sense. The cockroach is neither heroic nor ambitious, but something more basic: resilient, adaptable, and able to survive hostile conditions with very low expectations.

‘Mix’ of humor and politics is not new

Em Italycomedian Beppe Grillo channeled anti-establishment humor for the Five Star Movement, while in Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy went from playing a fictional president on television to becoming a real president.

Nos USAthe era of Donald Trump has generated repeated discussions about whether satire itself has begun to crumble in the face of a political reality that often already seems like a parody.

The Indian version takes a more online form: a meme-driven, insect-themed movement shaped by hashtags, burnout, and ironic despair. At first glance, it seems unusual. But this is not entirely out of place in Indian politics.

Politicians in the country have long adopted the power of spectaclefrom meditating in Himalayan caves to changing parties in scenes marked by deputies packed into buses or confined to hotels. Online campaigns are based on carefully choreographed viral videos and strong slogans designed to achieve maximum impact.

In this context, an insect-themed political movement seems strangely plausible. It also helps explain why it has spread so quickly — not necessarily because young Indians want another political party, but because many are looking for language to express their frustration.

“Just the beginning”?

“I think the CJP it’s just the beginning“, said Dipke. “Young people are fed up with the current political system and more youth organizations will emerge.”

Others, however, are more skeptical, saying the party is likely to disappear as quickly as it emerged. In any case, the CJP has already done something unusual in Indian politics: for a brief moment, it made some young people feel seen.

In earlier times, youthful political anger produced manifestos. In 2026, it sometimes produces meme parties with insect mascots.