00:00Alright, moving on now. Cockroaches, they are back. Yes, that is the message now which is flooding social media right
00:09now.
00:09Just hours ago, in fact right before we started the program, the ex-handle of India's most talked about new
00:15age party, the Cockroach Janata Party, was withheld.
00:20But just like cockroaches never give up, they too haven't. In a space of a couple of hours, a new
00:26page was born saying cockroaches are back.
00:30And it has garnered over 20,000 followers already in a matter of a few hours.
00:37And how did this revolution really begin in the first place? Well, if you've been living under a rock, let
00:42me sort of jog your memory a little bit.
00:44Now, six days ago, a 30-year-old student sitting in Boston opened a Google form and typed four words
00:51on it.
00:53Unemployed, lazy, chronically online.
00:58He defined the youth like this and called for a new party, the Cockroach Janata Party.
01:04What happened next? Nobody really planned.
01:07But to understand why this hit so hard, you need to go back to where the name actually came from.
01:14All right, on the 15th of May, Chief Justice of India, Surikanth, was presiding over a hearing on, you know,
01:21senior advocate designations.
01:23In the middle of the proceeding, he reached out for a word to describe unemployed youth, young Indians who use
01:30RTI applications in social media to challenge institutions.
01:33The word was Cockroach.
01:36He also called them parasites of society. The remark was recorded. The clip went viral.
01:43CGI, of course, clarified the next day that he was referring only to people who enter professions through fake degrees.
01:49Most Indian youths had already heard enough.
01:52And within 24 hours, Abhijir Dipke had turned the insult into a party registration form.
01:59The idea, he said, was simple. If they are going to call us cockroaches, we become the cockroaches.
02:07He cannot squash a movement. You cannot get rid of a cockroach, he said.
02:12And within four days, look what the cockroaches in India have done.
02:17The Cockroach Janta Party has crossed 14 million followers on Instagram.
02:23Look at that number. More than BJP, more than Congress.
02:28Now, to put this in perspective, look at those numbers.
02:31BJP Instagram account, built over years, with full machinery of India's ruling party, has about 8.8 million followers.
02:39And Cockroach Janta Party has 14.1.
02:42Last we checked, the number is growing very, very fast.
02:46Surprised to see Congress had 13.3 when we were.
02:49Nobody made that BJP Congress comparison before this, but it's an interesting anecdote.
02:53Now, what happened this morning? Let's go to that.
02:58On X, the OG Cockroach, Abhijir, you heard him on the program yesterday as well.
03:05We'll play out an excerpt for you now.
03:07Abhijir said that the Cockroach Janta Party Twitter account, formerly, you know, the X account now, has been withheld.
03:15He said this is in response to a legal demand.
03:18Dipke confirmed it himself, posting the screenshot. It's on your screen right now.
03:22Writing a simple words, as expected.
03:26Now, on Instagram, the account was reportedly suspended twice overnight, but each time it came back, and each time it
03:32came back, the followers kept climbing up.
03:36Now, the Cockroach Janta Party, or CJP, says it represents what happens when the generation that has been dismissed over
03:43neat scams,
03:45dismissed over unemployment numbers, and now openly insulted from the bench of country's highest court,
03:51decides to stop asking for a seat at the table, and starts building its own.
03:58The Cockroaches, it turns out, are not going anywhere.
04:03And if you had a doubt, take a look.
04:23India's newest political party, banned in less than a week.
04:29Why?
04:31After all, it had already crossed both the BJP and Congress in follow account.
04:37And then, X did what it often does best, pull the plug.
04:44In a country where unemployed youth are often mocked as lazy, chronically online, or even parasites,
04:52a new political outfit has decided to turn satire into a political weapon.
04:58It all began with a remark.
05:01The Chief Justice of India making a Cockroach analogy linked to unemployed youngsters.
05:07Triggered outrage online.
05:12A remark which he later said had been misquoted, adding that he was pained by the interpretation.
05:21And within hours, the internet responded with what may be India's strangest and sharpest political experiment yet,
05:28the Cockroach Janata Party.
05:32A meme-powered rebellion now turning outrage into political theatre.
05:40Launched on May 16th by Abhijit Dupke, a former Aamadmi Party social media volunteer
05:45and a public relations student at Boston University.
05:49The Cockroach Janata Party proudly calls itself secular, socialist, democratic, lazy.
06:00It's mission, to build a platform for young Indians constantly dismissed as jobless, frustrated and chronically online.
06:08But behind the humour lies a deeper political frustration, being name-called.
06:18In just three days, the party claims over one lakh members, lakhs of Instagram followers and a rapidly growing online
06:25army
06:26powered by sarcasm, anger and Gen Z rebellion.
06:36Even Srinamol MPs, Moa Moetro and Kirti Azhar have been welcomed into the party.
06:42And then comes the manifesto.
06:44Part satire, part systemic attack.
06:47No post-retirement Rajya Sabha seats for chief justices.
06:5150% reservation for women in parliament and the cabinet.
06:5520-year ban on defecting MLAs and MPs.
06:58Action against alleged vote deletion.
07:07The party has also tapped into growing youth anger over exam scams, unemployment and political distrust.
07:14Positioning itself as the self-declared voice of the unemployed.
07:30Will the Cockroach Janata Party become a real political force or fade away as India's loudest meme?
07:37Too early to say.
07:38But one thing is certain.
07:40In the age of viral politics, even satire is now fighting for a seat at the table.
08:05I'm sure you're wondering who's the OG cockroach behind this entire Cockroach Janata Party.
08:12Well, the man's name is Abhijit Dipke and we spoke with him earlier.
08:17Yeah.
08:18In the past one year, a lot of Gen Z movements have happened in and around India's neighbourhood.
08:22We've had Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal.
08:25And a lot of memes were then floated around saying, India ka gen z kahan hai.
08:30Are you trying to say India ka gen z yahan hai?
08:35I think the kind of support you see that we have got in just three days sooner.
08:43Today we have like three lakh registered members.
08:47The figure has gone to three lakh in just three, three, four days.
08:50On Instagram, we got 3.3 million people.
08:53That is 30 lakh people are following us.
08:55Do you really think that this is possible through any orchestrated campaign?
09:00No, it is not.
09:02You know, Abhijit, the narrative on Gen Z in India is what?
09:05That Gen Z outrages but only online.
09:08If they come out on the streets, it's only to make reels.
09:11This doesn't really translate into something.
09:13Which is why I was saying that many would say this is just a, you know, like a splash in
09:18the pan sort of a moment.
09:22No, I don't.
09:23Actually, I don't.
09:24Because for the past few months, I have been observing that there is this growing trend
09:28that earlier people were frustrated but they wouldn't like to express their dissatisfaction.
09:33But if you ever go on Instagram, now these people are speaking up.
09:38And this is just the first stage.
09:39Now they are trying to speak up.
09:42Earlier they were not even speaking up.
09:43Now they have got to a point where they are being vocal about their frustration.
09:49And tomorrow they might even get on the streets.
09:51But let me remind you again, if they get on the streets, don't think it will be like Nepal or
09:56Bangladesh.
09:58Indian Gen Z won't do that.
10:00Like these people are really smart.
10:02I have been speaking to hundreds of them.
10:03And they are explaining me how they will, how they need to, you know, protest in a very democratic and
10:08peaceful manner.
10:09They understand.
10:11How important it is to raise their voice but within the constitutional rights.
10:17So, I wouldn't compare the Indian Gen Z with the Gen Z of other nations and would try to, you
10:22know, defame them.
10:23Because these people are more smarter than the entire cabinet ministry that is sitting there today.
10:27The kind of politicians we have, the kind of ministers we have, what educational qualifications do they have?
10:34The best thing is to say they have.
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