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New Delhi: What began as a scathing, disorganized, and meme-driven political satire in India has now spread to Pakistan. Inspired by India's immensely popular "Cockroach Janta Party" (CJP), a number of Pakistan-based social media accounts with very identical themes, slogans, and branding have surfaced online, demonstrating once more that Pakistan is rarely far behind India in terms of digital trends.   

In addition to adopting the "cockroach" name, pages like Cockroach Awami Party (CAP), Cockroach Awami League (CAL), and even Muttahida Cockroach Movement have surfaced on Instagram and X, using the same defiant tone that caused India's CJP to blossom online in a matter of days.

The campaign started in India in the middle of May after Chief Justice Surya Kant's comments calling certain unemployed young people engaged in activism "cockroaches" and "parasites" sparked intense online backlash. The Chief Justice subsequently stressed that the comments were not intended for any young people without jobs, but by then the term had become a full-fledged political meme movement on the internet.

From Memes to Millions

The Cockroach Janta Party's rise was nothing short of explosive. The party's Instagram account gained more than 15 million followers in less than a week, surpassing the official accounts of the Indian National Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party.

The movement, which positioned itself as the voice of "lazy and unemployed youth," combined humor with annoyance over problems like governmental accountability, exam revisions, healthcare, education, and unemployment. The movement's identity was shaped by the symbolism of the cockroach, which is tenacious, hard to eradicate, and multiplies quickly.

Even after the party’s X account was withheld in India on Thursday, the collective quickly resurfaced through another handle with the cheeky message: “You thought you can get rid of us? Lol.”

And now, Pakistan appears eager to replicate the same formula.

Pakistan’s ‘Cockroach Politics’

Pakistan saw a flood of copycat accounts with nearly identical messaging and aesthetics shortly after CJP's online popularity in India. In its bio, one Instagram page going by the name Cockroach Awami Party freely acknowledged the inspiration, stating, "Yeah copied but who cares." The motto remains the same.

Some X accounts used slogans that echoed the Indian movement, while another identified itself as “a political front of the youth, for the youth, for Pakistan." "Jinhein system ne cockroach samjha, hum unhi awaam ki awaaz hain" was the slogan of one account, while "Har halaat mein zinda hain" was adopted by another page connected to the purported Cockroach Awami League.

The Pakistani counterparts even resemble the visual identity of the CJP in India, but they use a color scheme of green and white that is specific to Pakistani national symbols. Additionally, these pages present themselves as alternatives to Pakistan's major political parties, such as the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), and Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

What started out as comedy about young people without jobs and political dissatisfaction in India has now "infested" Pakistan's internet political sphere as well. It's hard to ignore the irony that a movement that originated in Indian internet culture has quickly gained popularity across the border, complete with parodied themes, branding, and slogans.

Whether these pages remain memes or evolve into something bigger, one thing is certain, India’s Cockroach Janta Party has managed to export its chaos faster than many actual political campaigns.

Who is the Founder Cockroach Janta Party? 

On May 16, Abhijeet Dipke, a US-based public relations graduate and former Aam Aadmi Party associate, formally formed the Cockroach Janta Party through a Google Form-based membership campaign. The satirical group became a social media sensation in a matter of days.

Abhijeet Dipke is a thirty-year-old Pune native who works as a political communication strategist. Before relocating to the US to pursue further studies, he finished his journalism undergraduate degree. Dipke recently earned a master's degree in public relations from Boston University.

He was well-known for his work in online communication strategy, narrative development, digital political messaging, and election campaigns before to moving overseas. According to reports, Dipke collaborated with the Aam Aadmi Party on campaign communication and social media activities from 2020 to 2023. 

In interviews, Dipke himself acknowledged that he is presently in the United States, where he is overseeing the movement's viral expansion. He also said that the entire movement happened unexpectedly and was never planned in advance.