• June 20, 2026 16:19
    In Focus podcast | Cockroach Janta Party: What does it mean to represent India's cockroaches

    In Focus Podcast | Cockroach Janta Party: What does it mean to represent India’s ‘cockroaches’?

    Abhijeet Dipke, a student of public relations in the US, woke up from uneasy dreams one morning and found himself transformed into a ‘gigantic cockroach’. He then founded the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), as a joke. But it quickly acquired a momentum of its own. In less than four days, it notched up more than 1.6 lakh members and 2 million followers on Instagram. What makes the CJP interesting is its popularity and connect among India’s Gen Z. Can it develop into a platform that gives voice to the grievances of India’s youth? Is it a flash in the pan? Can it make a political impact? We speak with the man behind the CJP phenomenon, Abhijeet Dipke.

  • June 20, 2026 16:17
    Watch | Cockroach Janta Party first protest at Jantar Mantar; seeks resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan

    Watch: Cockroach Janta Party protests at Jantar Mantar, seeks resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan

    Cockroach Janta Party protests at Jantar Mantar, demanding the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over examination irregularities.

  • June 20, 2026 16:15
    Interpreting the 'rise' of the Cockroach Janta Party

    A formation in India calling itself the ‘Cockroach Janta Party’ has accumulated a following that established political organisations often spend years building. Meme pages, Instagram reels, and semi-ironic political formations began aggregating at remarkable speed, prompting comparisons with Bangladesh and Nepal, where youth-led mobilisations appeared capable of unsettling entrenched political arrangements through digitally synchronised anger.

    Increasingly, many are wondering whether this is the future of politics itself: reactive and emotionally charged, and organised less around long-term political structures than around symbolic enemies and collective outrage.

    Interpreting the ‘rise’ of the Cockroach Janta Party

    Whether politics organised primarily through synchronised outrage can sustain itself beyond moments of emotional intensity is a key issue

  • June 20, 2026 16:03
    Watch | Cockroach Janta Party: Lessons for the ruling party and opposition

    Watch: Cockroach Janta Party: lessons for the ruling party and Opposition

    The online satirical phenomena the Cockroach Janta Party, has gained a lot of traction online and in political discourse. It has also become, in a sense, a lightning rod, of a narrative tug of war rather than what it is – a signal to political parties across the spectrum. We analyse how the BJP and the opposition parties have responded to this.

  • June 20, 2026 15:54
    Visuals from CJP protest
  • June 20, 2026 15:48
    Light rain could pause protests briefly

    The crowds gathered for the CJP protest may see some respite from the punishing heat as IMD forecasts light rain throughout Delhi in the next two hours, according to IMD.

    - Aroon Deep

  • June 20, 2026 15:25
    Demonstrators bang plates and spoons in protest

    Demonstrators bang plates and spoons as they continue to demand the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan by sloganeering and holding up posters asking for the NTA to be disbanded, and more.

  • June 20, 2026 15:14
    Protestors shout 'Go Pradhan Go', while with plates and spoons

    People were carrying plates and spoons at Jantar Mantar to show their concern and double down on their request for Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to resign. Demonstrators were shouting ‘Go Pradhan Go’ while banging their steel plates and spoons.

  • June 20, 2026 15:06
    Elected representatives’ children should go to the same schools as everyone else: Sonam Wangchuk

    “The system will only change when our elected representatives’ children go to the same schools as everyone else’s,” activist Sonam Wangchuk says during the protest.

    - Aroon Deep

  • June 20, 2026 14:58
    Abhijit Dipke arrives at Jantar Mantar
  • June 20, 2026 14:50
    Jantar Mantar protest is underway

    The Cockroach Janta Party’s second protest at Jantar Mantar is underway. The protestors continue to demand the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan.

  • June 20, 2026 14:46
    Heavy security in place as CJP stages second protest at Jantar Mantar

    Heavy security arrangements were put in place across the national capital on Saturday as the Cockroach Janta Party holds its second protest at Jantar Mantar, with police deploying extensive surveillance and crowd-control measures, officials said.

    The protest began with heightened police presence, with supporters arriving from different parts of Delhi and neighbouring States.

    Authorities have granted permission for the demonstration, officials said.

    CCTV cameras were installed in and around the protest venue to monitor the gathering in real time, while around 270 body-worn cameras will be used by police personnel deployed at the site to ensure transparency and document proceedings, according to officials.

    Heavy security in place as CJP stages second protest at Jantar Mantar

    Heavy security and surveillance are in place as the Cockroach Janta Party stages its second protest at Jantar Mantar.

Published - June 20, 2026 02:37 pm IST

Related Topics