Cockroach Janta Party Manifesto: Glaring Silence on Fundamental Issues
The manifesto of the Cockroach Janta Party is conspicuously silent on the fundamental issues that the majority of Indians are facing today
[Cockroach Janta Party banner which is viral today. (Inset) Abhijeet Dipke, the founder of Cockroach Janta Party]
CJP, aka Cockroach Janta Party, is the new buzzword on social media, especially on Instagram, where Gen Z is finding a Party, if one can call it that, they relate to.
My intention to write this essay is based on my scepticism about the Cockroach Janta Party, and not doing it now would be a mistake in the larger sense in the fight to save the Indian democracy.
A Good Idea
Let me get this straight. One thing is absolutely clear. Anyone reading this essay or watching CJP’s social media dominance would notice - the Modi government is rotting. With the Indians reeling under an economic downslide, starting from the country’s unemployment problem to abysmally low wages to the majority of the country’s workforce, whereas the country’s rich become richer every month, the public mood is largely turning against the Modi government for its mishandling of the economy.
A critic can question, then why is the BJP winning in most state elections if public discontent is visible and PM Modi remains the single face of elections, overriding regional issues? The question is valid only when there is a level playing field for each and every party or candidate in these largely polarised elections. Nobody, not even the sharpest exit poll analysts, got it wrong on the 2024 general election results.
But to ask whether this means that gone are the days of Hindu-Muslim debates, or whether the ‘Hindus are in danger’ debates have given space to bread-and-butter questions, is something that cannot be entirely dismissed.
As an Indian, I am happy that Gen Z and the youth have become vocal and are talking about public accountability, transparency, better treatment for citizens, and a way out of the ‘politics of hate’ that India has institutionalised well before Independence (not just since 2014). However, I am sceptical of the extent to which Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) is insulated to the outside pressures of religion in politics, just as Arvind Kejriwal had to proclaim himself as a devotee of a Hindu God during elections.
The Missing Parts
My doubts are not baseless. I found that the CJP, in its five-point manifesto, is silent on caste – the elephant in the room. If this is a movement that has grown out of discontent of Indians as a whole, who takes the brunt of it the most – the country’s lower castes. Does this movement feel for the usual liberal idea of an India where talking about caste becomes a bad idea to woo the urban, upper caste liberals who are also fighting the regime and are determined to save the democracy, just because they have also started feeling the pain, as the rupee’s downfall will mean less returns on their investments or a higher air bill?
Secondly, I felt that CJP kept its mouth shut on the divisive politics and the politics of hate. I wonder what the response would have been if a non-Hindu had spearheaded this movement. The cuss words, the character assassinations, the media trial of having connections with some international terror groups, the anti-India conspiracy theories and the number of cases that have been filed against them in the meanwhile. The only criticism the IT cell of the ruling regime even brandished is that Abhijeet Dipke, the Cockroach Janta Party founder, is a former AAP worker.
Thirdly, there are movements on the ground among workers, peasants, and adivasis fighting to protect their land, jobs, and resources. They might not make news headlines for the obvious reasons that the media is owned by billionaires who are hand-in-glove with the regime. Whether CJP will remain an online edition of AAP or join hands with those on the ground to forge a larger alliance is something we are all waiting for.
The Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) has to come clean on these fundamental issues if they speak for all Indians.
I do not wish to be too sceptical of this growing movement, as only time can tell what will happen to it and what impact it will have on the Indian population. Given the rise of TVK in Tamil Nadu, largely driven by youth, I am hopeful that our youth will become more vocal and ask questions.
[The writer, Joel Thomas Mathews, is an Independent Journalist.]
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