Opposition Parties Watch Rise of Online Cockroach Janta Party Amidst Suspicions

Opposition parties are watching the rise of the online Cockroach Janta Party. They suspect an unseen hand is behind its social media popularity. Leaders are unsure whether to welcome or criticize the CJP. Some politicians have individually supported it. Many parties are waiting to see how the situation develops. The CJP is seen as a voice for youth frustration.

New Delhi: Many opposition parties appear to be adopting a cautious approach to the surging social media support for the online Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), with most wondering whether there is a larger invisible force fuelling the phenomenon.

These parties, including the Congress, SP and Left, have so far issued no official statements, either welcoming the CJP or criticising the reported government move to have the CJP blocked on some social media platforms. But some of them are keen to deftly position themselves with respect to the CJP given that the latter is being projected as the reflection of angst of the youth, a much wooed electoral segment.

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While a few social media savvy politicians welcomed the entity in their individual capacity, most parties preferred to adopt a wait-and-see approach.

"No cockroach grows organically like this. It is evident that some quarters are organising and fanning the social media splash for CJP, perhaps deliberately creating it as an alternative platform for the youth to let out their angst rather than them joining the opposition parties' mobilisation against the Centre," a senior Congress leader said on condition of anonymity, pointing out that the CJP's appearance coincided with the Congress and other oppositions leaders to woo the youth by taking up their issues, including unemployment.Some opposition camps' scepticism about the CJP was also linked to their belief that some hidden forces had pulled the strings on the Anna Hazara movement during the UPA era and they now suspect there could be another plot behind the CJP, too.

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Congress parliamentarian Shashi Tharoor, who on Thursday posted his appreciation of the CJP on social media, on Friday posted about the "pushback" to his post and comments, with some users dismissing the viral internet movement as "a Pakistani-manufactured conspiracy". Some claimed that most followers of the CJP founding president Abhijeet Dipke are Indians, while others argued that Dipke had been equally critical of the Congress.

Also Read: India's 'Cockroach Janta Party' group goes viral, spotlights Gen Z worries

"Whatever be the truth (and perhaps @Instagram should put the record straight), my point is that suppressing it is foolish in a democracy. Democracy's great virtue is the outlets it provides for public sentiment, frustration and grievances," Tharoor said in his post, in an apparent reference to the move to get the CJP blocked by X.

All India Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moita criticised the government for reportedly seeking to block the CJP on X by claiming a national security threat.