- 1 day ago
In this edition of Democratic Newsroom, India Today's editors discuss the rapid rise of the Cockroach Janata Party, which was formed in response to Chief Justice of India Surya Kant's remarks on youth.
Category
ЁЯЧЮ
NewsTranscript
00:00Hello and welcome to yet another edition of the Democratic Newsroom.
00:03We have a new moot point today.
00:05Well, the Chief Justice of India made a comment.
00:08He said he was misconstrued.
00:10But at the back of it was born the Cockroach Janata Party.
00:13And within a span of just a few days,
00:16at least on Instagram and where social media is concerned,
00:18it's taken over the number of followers then,
00:22the biggest political party in the world,
00:24the Bharatiya Janata Party.
00:25Everyone's a tad bit shocked.
00:26But is the CJP, the Cockroach Janata Party,
00:30just a social media fad?
00:32Or could it actually pose a real threat?
00:35And is there a Gen Z vote in this country to take?
00:38Well, let's open the debate.
00:39We have a packed house, but we're going to quickly bring in,
00:42but let me quickly introduce our panelists this evening.
00:47I have with me Sonal, Mr. Raj Chengappa.
00:49I have Tanisha.
00:50I have our Gen Z, Jessica, as well.
00:53And we have Rajdeep Sardisai.
00:54Rajdeep, you want to open the debate?
01:01Well, what's the question?
01:02What's the question?
01:03The question, Rajdeep, is, is there, is this, is CJP,
01:07the Cockroach Janata Party, a real threat or a social media fad?
01:11Is there a vote of the Gen Z to take in this country?
01:18See, I think these are two separate questions.
01:20There is, I believe, a Gen Z vote definitely in this country.
01:23We saw it in Tamil Nadu.
01:25You could see the excitement, visible excitement in that age group between 18 and 21 or 18 and 25
01:31when they supported the actor turned politician Vijay.
01:35So there is a Gen Z vote.
01:37There is a Yuva vote.
01:38Let me call it.
01:38I don't want to divide between Gen Z, millennials.
01:41I get confused myself.
01:42But is there, is the Cockroach Janata Party a representative of this Gen Z angst?
01:49I think the jury is out on that one.
01:51I am very, a little skeptical of sometimes what happens on social media.
01:55You can manage trends at times.
01:58Are they fully organic?
02:00I don't really know.
02:01All I know is Cockroaches are great survivors.
02:04Let's be very clear.
02:06Cockroach ko agar aap ek Cockroach maaroge toh das Cockroach bhaar aajate hain.
02:10So I like the Cockroach analogy that has come in because I've always believed journalists should be Cockroaches.
02:16Why?
02:17Because if there is a nuclear explosion across the world, everything will be destroyed.
02:22The Cockroach will survive because next morning he has to report to the world that there was a nuclear explosion.
02:27So Cockroaches are great survivors.
02:29But being survivors doesn't necessarily mean that they are going to create a movement which will translate into something like
02:36what we saw in Nepal, which turned into a huge political movement.
02:39So let's enjoy it.
02:41I am enjoying it thoroughly.
02:43I love it that young people are expressing their angst, their dissent, their creativity through this Cockroach Janata Party.
02:51I am too old to perhaps join the Cockroach Janata Party, but I am a Cockroach.
02:56That much I can promise you.
02:57I don't want to be a butterfly.
02:58I am happiest when I am a Cockroach watching what's happening around me.
03:03And if people try to crush me, I will survive and revive.
03:07Well, you know, it's already happening in the social media space because at least on Twitter, the handle of Cockroach
03:11Janata Party was taken down and suddenly a new handle has cropped up, which has now an equal number of
03:17followers than the one that was taken down.
03:19So, you know, some would think it's the Streisand effect that you try and suppress something, it will only become
03:24all the more popular.
03:25But I want to bring in Raj Chengappa.
03:27Raj Chengappa, you have seen enough political parties come on the horizon.
03:32Some thrive, some just a flash in the pan and go on.
03:35When you look at the CJP, the Cockroach Janata Party, it resonates with the youth.
03:40It resonates with the underdog.
03:42It does.
03:42It does find.
03:43And the sheer fact, you know, to go and grow at the speed that you have on Instagram is mind
03:49-boggling.
03:50Yes, I'd agree that we should not take it lightly.
03:53Oh, really?
03:54Yeah, yeah.
03:54Any youth movement now, I think, has to be recognized as something of a force.
03:59Since Rajdeep had mentioned Vijay in Tamil Nadu, let's look at what happened over there.
04:04Here again, two established parties get knocked out by this person who comes just about 24 months earlier.
04:11If you talk to Pradeep and others who actually predicted his victory,
04:14you would find that he estimates that the electorate between 18 and 40 is 40% of the total electorate
04:23and the rest is 50% on the other side.
04:25And out of that 40%, Vijay gets 50%.
04:29So he's starting with 20% lead.
04:31Along with that, very interestingly, is their ability to influence their parents.
04:35If you ask a lot of people there, and my brother's there as well,
04:39they say, you know, they tell their parents, you need to vote for this person.
04:43So there is a change because over a period of time, we have become, you know,
04:47the 40s and above have become disillusioned with what has happened.
04:50And just a quick thing about what's happened in Nepal, Sri Lanka and in Bangladesh.
04:56They could have some bearings that's there, but clearly a couple of things happened in those places.
05:00Of course, Nepal triggered because of social media suppression,
05:04but then moved on to all the other big grievances were there.
05:07Lanka, you saw there was a huge problem of inflation, lack of jobs.
05:11In Bangladesh, some of the same problems happened.
05:13So we do have, in some senses, the building of that.
05:16And I think we should take a look at Vijay, not just as a phenomenon, as a film star,
05:21but someone where we now need to look at youth very closely as a vote bank,
05:26because given the economic crisis that we are facing,
05:30the brunt of that crisis is going to be faced by the youth.
05:32And they can then turn around.
05:34But even when you look at data, Raj, you know, you can go back to 2024 elections.
05:38And youth is usually considered anti-establishment.
05:41And that mirrored, at least, in the kind of vote that the Congress got.
05:46Because if you break it down, then it was the younger lot that voted for the Congress in 2024,
05:50which maybe propelled it to the 100 seat there.
05:53So the youth is looking for an option.
05:55But here I would think it's a double-edged sword,
05:57because the youth is not looking at the Congress.
05:59This, you know, if the BJP needs to be worried by a social movement,
06:02right now it is limited to a social movement, like the CJP,
06:05then so does the Congress, the principal opposition,
06:07because they're clearly not looking at the Congress.
06:09They're looking at something completely brand new.
06:11Well, you know, that's where established parties have to look at it.
06:14Just a quick point.
06:15I know you must bring the others in.
06:16In Sri Lanka, it was not that the youth came to power.
06:19They created the revolt.
06:21True.
06:21And someone else emerged out of it.
06:22Right?
06:23Anna movement.
06:24No.
06:24The Anna movement.
06:25In Sri Lanka.
06:38The Nirbaya movement.
06:40But I want to bring in, for someone who manages our entire social media and heads it, Tanisha is with
06:46us.
06:47Tanisha, when you look at a Vijay and you look at a TVK, without giving a single interview, right?
06:52Zero.
06:53No, he didn't speak to anybody.
06:54It was largely a campaign that was run on social media and it spread like fire and the kind of
07:01support he got.
07:02So, when you are looking at numbers, where in just about a couple of days, this party has gone from
07:08scratch and overtaken the number of followers from the Bharatiya Janata party,
07:14A, it's fascinating at a level and how quickly it's grown.
07:17Yeah.
07:17So, I think there are two ways of looking at it.
07:19Number one, I do think that, of course, the Gen Z voter, the Gen Z has a voice and a
07:24very strong voice on social media.
07:27One is that this movement has happened on social media where Gen Z exists, coexists with everybody, right?
07:33It's not on stage.
07:34So, they're taking it from stage online.
07:36That's what happened in Vijay's case as well.
07:38The second is that they're using social media sarcasm and humor to both protest and cope with, you know, the
07:46issues that they're facing,
07:47that the country is facing inflation, joblessness, all of that, the frustration.
07:51They are taking it out, not тАУ it's basically moving from they're not marching, they're memeing, right?
07:57That's how things are moving, even for Vijay's campaign.
08:00I think a lot of them were just, you know, very interesting memes that got people going, sharing content here
08:07and there and all of that.
08:08So, I think the entire atmosphere of how things are тАУ
08:10Is the growth organic?
08:12Because a lot of people are saying тАУ
08:13It's absolutely organic.
08:14You're saying it's organic?
08:14It's absolutely organic.
08:16Because it's absolutely organic.
08:18Okay, that's a тАУ you know, then тАУ
08:20Yeah.
08:20But having said that, it's so much easier to just тАУ
08:23And most followers are from where?
08:24Let's also not forget that the criteria, membership criteria for this party is that are you bored?
08:29Are you jobless?
08:30Are you online?
08:31And it's тАУ
08:32Are you lazy?
08:33Lazy.
08:34And it's scary to think that so many people thought that it was, you know, something they resonated with.
08:39And you're saying it's organic and most of the followers come from where?
08:42They're all Gen Z.
08:43All Gen Z.
08:43They're all frustrated.
08:44They're all online.
08:46They're all bored.
08:47And they're all lazy.
08:48All right.
08:48Okay.
08:48So now you've been tracking the emergence of the CJP, the Cockroach Jantha Party.
08:54It's been a few days.
08:55It's been a few days.
08:56But in a few days, it's тАУ you know, the trajectory is quite amazing.
09:00Quite mind-boggling.
09:01You also spoke to the founder.
09:02Yes, I spoke to the founder and I asked him exactly these questions, right?
09:06Like every time there's a conversation on a new party or a young party, people will say,
09:10Online is a trend.
09:11It won't come up in the vote.
09:12It won't translate in the vote.
09:13They'll come on streets, but they'll only make memes and they'll make their reels and they'll go back.
09:18But it's not true.
09:19I think something is changing, not just in India, but in our entire ecosystem.
09:24Yes, Nepal.
09:25Yes, Bangladesh.
09:26Yes, Sri Lanka.
09:27But look at the cases that are really triggering young people.
09:30It's NEAT.
09:32It's Agnipat.
09:33It's all these cases that has really got people on the streets.
09:37Pollution has got people on the streets to say, guys, will somebody please speak for us?
09:42And, you know, let's be mindful of the fact.
09:44We keep thinking Gen Z is very young.
09:46Gen Z today is 29.
09:48They have paid their taxes.
09:50They are paying their rents.
09:52They are not getting jobs.
09:54They are angry and upset and they are saying, boss, I have grown up and I've had enough of them.
09:59So, I think something is happening here with the Cockroach Janta Party.
10:03It's not that they don't turn up on voting booths and vote.
10:08It's not that the turnout is low.
10:09Their options are low.
10:11They don't have every time you give them an option in Nepal, in Tamil Nadu, in Bangladesh, in Sri Lanka.
10:19And it also shows because at least the Gen Z that we speak of is rather jaded with the political
10:26options that they have.
10:28So, what I said earlier, if, you know, the incumbent needs to be a tad bit worried with the kind
10:32of growth that the CJP has got,
10:34the opposition needs to be worried more because somebody is taking their space from them.
10:39Okay, now in all this whole lot, we only have one Gen Z and that is Jessica.
10:43I'm a proud representative of the Gen Z.
10:45A proud representative of the Gen Z generation.
10:49So, Jessica, how are you?
10:51And the other Gen Zs, are they cockroaches yet?
10:55Yes, definitely.
10:56You know, one of the taglines is,
10:58So, that is how the cockroach and the party, that is how they're equating the world right now.
11:05They're saying that it's a gutter, it's all gone to the rags and we need to reclaim our space.
11:09Nobody is talking about us right now.
11:12We are not part of the conversation.
11:14It's all the usual politics and so they're trying to get attention towards all of these issues.
11:18They are a force for good in a way.
11:21Okay, what attracts you to CJP?
11:23Have you joined the party? Have you followed it?
11:26Yes, yes, I have joined the party.
11:29So, which one are you? Are you lazy? You're not unemployed for sure.
11:33No, I'm not unemployed, I'm sitting here.
11:35I mean, Gen Z, people say Gen Z is lazy and in a very negative way.
11:40But then we have brought about these trends which are like the quiet quitting and all of these trends which
11:46are also born from,
11:47I can see it from a lot of your faces, you don't quite understand what I'm talking about.
11:50No, no, I understand.
11:51That makes sense, man.
11:53We understand.
11:54Yeah, yeah, yeah.
11:55He's offended.
11:56No, likeтАж
11:57See, I have two Gen Zs killed.
11:58Yeah.
11:58So, it's okay.
12:00Yeah.
12:00So, I can't be surprised.
12:02So, like, you know, it's alwaysтАж
12:04These terms, they're trying to reclaim these terms as well by, you knowтАж
12:08Okay, tell me something, Jessica, and I'll bring in Rajdeep.
12:10Well, as somebody who follows the Cockroach Janata Party, do you want it to be a social pressure group or
12:16you want this party to become a political party and fight the elections?
12:21Right now, I would want it to be a social pressure group and not a political party.
12:24Because, as we've been talking about how when one enters into a political space, it becomes a very murky ground.
12:31You don't reallyтАж
12:32I mean, we have seen this right now with Raghav Chadda.
12:34He was so popular and now he's, you know, switched parties.
12:36A lot of Gen Zs was following Raghav Chadda and they don't like this.
12:40Like, you've been, you know, propagating something for so long and now you're saying something completely, entirely different.
12:45I don't know if we can keepтАж
12:47Don't know if we can keep everything.
12:48Go ahead.
12:49But that is something which is also the grouse of the Gen Z, right?
12:52Like, when you're saying something and you don't walk the talk.
12:55So, that is one of the grouse for the Gen Z.
12:56And I don't know how this will play out if itтАж
12:59So, what is it?
13:00Okay, Rajdeep, so, you know, what Jessica also told us the minute she came in is that why I like
13:03the Cockroach Janata Party.
13:05See, they're cleaning the Yamuna.
13:06You know, they're not just sitting and talking about it.
13:08Yeah, so a lot of people, this is not the CJP itself cleaning the Yamuna.
13:12A lot of people who associateтАж
13:13Associate, are doing it.
13:14Exactly.
13:15Yeah, so they are doing all of these good tasks and tasks which, you know, things that people wouldn't generally
13:19talk of.
13:20We don't see political parties.
13:20You know, let me bring in Rajdeep.
13:21I'm all for CJP, but that's just for a real yard.
13:24I mean, I'm all for it, but come on.
13:26True.
13:26Come on, that's just a real.
13:27I passed through Yamuna today.
13:28It's not clean.
13:29Nobody was there.
13:30No, but these are the effort.
13:31Okay, I want to let me bring in Rajdeep back.
13:32It's a statement at max.
13:33Okay, fair point.
13:34I want to bring in Rajdeep back into this conversation.
13:36Rajdeep, you know, with what also Jessica just elucidated, it just shows that the Gen Z today has zero patience
13:42for old school stereotypical politics.
13:45They just have no space for that anymore.
13:52No, it doesn't.
13:53But, you see, the truth is that they have to also, their attention spans are sometimes consumed in one reel.
13:59And I'm not trying to talk down to them.
14:01But the fact is that, you know, I sit on a flight next to me, someone from Gen Z, and
14:06she's furiously scrolling down her mobile to see what's the next reel.
14:10Now, you have to move from reel to the road.
14:13In Bangladesh, in Sri Lanka, you know, the fact is, ultimately, there is no substitute for taking your anger out
14:23in more concrete terms.
14:25And let's be honest, there are Gen Zs and there are Gen Zs.
14:29There are Gen Zs who suffer because of paper leaks.
14:32There are Gen Zs who suffer because examination results are not declared on time.
14:36There are Gen Zs who suffer because they see corruption around them.
14:42They feel that there are no jobs for them.
14:45So, their concerns are very different.
14:47Some other Gen Zs may be worried about pollution, about Yamuna.
14:50So, I don't believe that there is one unified Gen Z vote out there.
14:54What I do believe is that at the end of the day, you're going to, at some stage, have to
14:58move from being social media entertainment to doing the real thing.
15:01We're all enjoying it at the moment.
15:03As I said, I love the creativity.
15:05I love the fact that they are pouring their angst out in the way they are and actually discomforting and
15:11asking some inconvenient questions that we in mainstream media don't.
15:17I like that.
15:18I like people who dissent.
15:20India needs an anti-establishment voice.
15:22And I think the CJI, unfortunately, got it terribly wrong.
15:25I mean, the way he put it, it was going to...
15:28He said he was misconstrued, but that's too late.
15:30The ship is safe.
15:31By what the CJI said, he can say what he wants.
15:34He can say what he wants.
15:35But I think Abhiji is serious.
15:36It is not just...
15:37He represented an old style...
15:40Okay, Raji, quickly make your point.
15:42No, I'm just saying that...
15:44Yeah, I'm just saying there's always been space for anyone who's anti-establishment in this country.
15:50But you've got to then be willing to stay the course and do more than just...
15:54But what is staying the course?
15:56Is it to continue being a social media pressure group where you keep picking up issues on social media?
16:02Or do you get your hands dirty?
16:04I said, will you fight 2029 elections?
16:07What did he say?
16:07Okay, he said...
16:08Yeah, sure.
16:09And he has experience, remember.
16:10He's been part of a social experiment when he called Ahmadineh Party earlier.
16:14And he left it, seems a little disgruntled about it, and said that one of the reasons that I joined
16:20that party was health and was environment issues and education issues.
16:25But they didn't seem to go in another direction, so I parted ways.
16:28So he has experience.
16:29He seems to be thinking about it, but he was measured.
16:32He said, I'm thinking.
16:33Thinking about it.
16:34I'm going to ask people, and if they want, we will become a political party.
16:38So this is not to be ravished so easily and so early.
16:41I would just make a couple of points.
16:42One, we always think of Gen Z as the one that is creating the entire...
16:45But being a political party in India is not so easy.
16:48True, true, true Rajdeep.
16:49Yeah.
16:49Gen Z is the one that is creating the entire movement.
16:52If you look at the ages of prime ministers, right?
16:54I think Rajiv Gandhi, who has not mistaken, was 40 when he became a prime minister, the youngest prime minister.
16:59And this is 84.
17:01Take a look at Benazir Bhutto across that side.
17:03She was 35.
17:04So it's not unusual for young to sort of create an impact, and we think this is just happening now.
17:09I think what you're seeing now is the...
17:12Every single political party, that's why, has to take note of it, because there is what would, let's say, a
17:18cocktail of factors
17:19that could create this to bubble up even further,
17:22because you do have issues that concern Gen Z, right?
17:25We know that this crisis that is on us, the oil shocks that's there, is going to impact jobs.
17:30It's going to cause inflation.
17:31Who's hurt the most in each of these things?
17:33It's the people that are looking out for jobs that's there.
17:35And so, therefore, we've seen in other countries, not that it could happen in India.
17:39I think the BJP has been extremely smart.
17:41If you look at Mr Modi, he's adopted social media right from the time he emerged in 2012,
17:46long before everybody else knew the value.
17:48The BJP is a master at using all the WhatsApps and everything, as we saw in recent elections.
17:53So, they are savvy.
17:54But at the end of the day, I think you have to meet the requirements that youth want,
17:59which is, and that is that large group, that they feel frustrated.
18:03No, even though they're young, but they seem to be very jaded with the system.
18:07Okay, you wanted to come in.
18:08No, so I just want to say, I agree with Rajdeep, sir, that a lot of times on social media
18:11trends,
18:12they come up and then they as quickly fade away, right?
18:14So, I think that's something that, unless it translates into on-ground reality,
18:19it's going to sort of vanish.
18:20I mean, we're going to find out very soon, is this real political fire or is it just,
18:23you know, we're just enjoying the vibe for now, right?
18:25We don't know.
18:26The second thing I want to say is that these platforms are third-party platforms, right?
18:30One change in algorithm, one ban on an account or any such violation means that it,
18:35everything could vanish overnight.
18:36So, you can't own a rented house.
18:38That's something to remember.
18:39Have to move beyond social media to make a real difference.
18:42No, I just want to say, let's be clear.
18:45I think these guys also, the CJP also is very clear that this is just the beginning.
18:49I don't think they want a house in here.
18:51I don't think they want to rent it either.
18:53I think they want to use this platform and make something bigger out of it.
18:56And I do want to say this.
18:57I don't think the Gen Z really resonates with any of the existing political parties.
19:02I think the reason a new establishment is required as a need,
19:07as an oxygen for them at the moment,
19:09is because they want a fresh start.
19:11They are done with these old ones.
19:13That's what we said.
19:14But the BJP or the Coen O leaders can make it happen with Gen Z anymore.
19:18I don't think they cut it with Gen Z anymore.
19:20The three examples that happened recently, let's look at Sri Lanka,
19:24the Gen Z disappears,
19:25and you've got a regular party that is there that is taken over from the two established parties.
19:28Right, right.
19:29It has formed a third front, but it has pushed together through this.
19:32It created a...
19:33Go back to Bangladesh,
19:35where again you've had a revolt of sorts,
19:36but you get the BNP back.
19:38Tariq Raiman is, you know, in his 60s.
19:40It's not like he's young.
19:41The only place where you can look at an example is Balin Shah at 36.
19:44But then Raj, why look there?
19:47Look at Tamil Nadu.
19:48Tamil Nadu again.
19:49Look at Vijay.
19:49Yeah, but Vijay is 50.
19:50Look at TVK.
19:51No, Vijay is 50.
19:52He's not like a Gen Z guy.
19:53He's as Gen Z as the guy.
19:54Guys, come on, you're getting it so wrong.
19:57It's not the...
19:58It's the idea.
20:00It's the idea.
20:00It's the idea of an alternative.
20:02One second.
20:02For them, they want a certain appeal that is there,
20:05but let's look at Vijay.
20:06He doesn't just thrive because he has built a brand through films.
20:10He's not a...
20:10True, true.
20:11Johnny come lately when it comes to knowledge, right?
20:13It's the idea.
20:14It's the idea.
20:14He's an alternative.
20:16Okay, so I want to bring in...
20:18I'll give you the final word, Jessica.
20:20We're talking a lot about Vijay.
20:22And I was also on ground in Tamil Nadu, in Madurai,
20:26in all of these places.
20:27One thing that is common even there is there's a generational divide
20:30between how people are voting.
20:31All the young and in a single household,
20:34all the fathers, grandfathers, all the parents may be voting for DMK, IDMK,
20:38but all the younger children and women, they were voting for TVK.
20:40So they were all looking for a face,
20:43probably who's not already there, a part of the conversation.
20:46So that is completely true, that there is no alternative.
20:49True.
20:49Well, right now, you're right now, there is no alternative
20:51and there's a desperate search of that alternative,
20:53search of political hope.
20:55But hope, you know, can also quickly turn into frustration.
20:59And it can push you up like it has in the form of the Kokoro Janta Party
21:04where you start off from nothing and you're already millions of followers,
21:07more than BJP, but as quickly as it propels you,
21:10it pulls you down as quickly as well if you don't deliver.
21:13So that's frustration.
21:14I think they're saying,
21:15I think they're saying that.
21:18That's all the time that we have now.
21:19We're going to quickly wrap.
21:21Thank you, all of you, for joining us.
21:23And we're going to leave it for our viewers.
21:24It's going to be interesting.
21:25Let's see.
21:26And watch.
21:27Does it fade with time?
21:28Was it just a social media experiment?
21:30Or will it be a real political threat?
21:33We'll see.
21:33Thank you for joining us.
21:34Let's see.
21:35Let's see.
21:36Let's see.
Comments