New Delhi: Is the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) a mere satirical meme movement based around unemployment and anti-establishment humour, or is it the beginning of something larger, aimed at destabilizing the country?
Intelligence and security agencies are worried that it could be a platform for mass mobilisation, formed to create coordinated unrest with foreign interference. These could be on the lines of the uprisings witnessed in Bangladesh and Nepal.
This became clear after the Centre directed X to withhold the CJP’s handle in India, following Intelligence Bureau (IB) inputs citing “national security concerns”, as reported by News18.
Agencies are now closely examining the origins and rapid growth of the network behind CJP.
Inputs accessed by CNN-News18 and other reports reviewed by security officials suggest that one of the most prominent groups now operating under the “Cockroach Janta Party” banner appears to have undergone multiple identity changes over several years before adopting its current branding on May 21 this year.
That group was originally created in February 2021 under the Gujarati name “આમ આદમી પાર્ટી ગુજરાત” (Aam Aadmi Party Gujarat), suggesting it may initially have functioned as a fan or support page linked to the AAP ecosystem in Gujarat.
The group later reportedly changed names multiple times, before returning to the AAP Gujarat branding and eventually rebranding itself as “Cockroach Janta Party” on May 21.
It is now known that CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke worked with the Aam Aadmi Party between 2020 and 2023, where he was involved in social media strategy and election campaigning. During the 2020 Delhi assembly elections, he reportedly worked on meme-based digital campaigns focused on political messaging and youth outreach.
Agencies see the repeated identity shifts as a potential red flag, especially given the page’s sudden transformation from a regional political fan community into a nationwide anti-establishment meme movement attracting millions of followers within days.
Officials are gradually getting worried about the scale, speed and unpredictability of the movement.
The CJP reportedly amassed over 15 million Instagram followers in an extremely short span, surpassing even the follower counts of several mainstream political parties.
The agencies fear such rapid, decentralised growth creates fertile ground for manipulation by hostile actors, especially when driven by emotionally charged issues like unemployment, inflation and youth frustration.
Movements built around humour and memes can often appear politically harmless initially, before evolving into real-world mobilisation campaigns, officials believe.
They cite examples of Gen Z-led online movements globally that began as internet satire but later spilled into protests, campus unrest and broader anti-establishment campaigns.
“When we notice a sudden spike in followers, we also cross-check and alert the authorities. This is what happened in the case of the Cockroach Party,” a Meta source reportedly said.
The movement’s digital footprint outside India is another area of concern.
The agencies are reportedly examining the presence of foreign-based followers and participants across associated Telegram and social media channels. Officials claim several early members in linked Telegram groups appeared to use foreign names, with some accounts allegedly originating outside India, including from Pakistan.
Some Telegram infrastructure linked to the movement may have been pre-existing “ready-made” channels, going as far back as February, later repurposed for CJP-related mobilisation, officials suspect.
The larger risk lies in the transition from digital virality to physical mobilisation, they say.
What currently exists as meme-driven anger could evolve into offline protests, student agitations or loosely coordinated campaigns demanding accountability from institutions and governments, officials believe.
The CJP has managed to create what agencies reportedly describe as a “normalised rallying point” for discontent among urban youth by framing political frustration through humour and satire, they say.
Officials fear such movements can gradually weaken trust in institutions while spreading what one internal note allegedly described as “unorganised fear” and instability.
