New Delhi: The name may sound unusual, but the political pressure being created by the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) is getting difficult to ignore. The group, which began as a social media campaign, has spent the past three months trying to influence public issues without contesting elections or claiming to be a conventional political party.
It has claimed two major successes: the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan following the NEET paper leak controversy and the reversal of a decision by the Bar Council of India (BCI) that had stopped the enrolment of 2026 graduates of NALSAR University of Law.
If CJP becomes a party, everything changes
Now, the CJP has turned its attention to government schools. CJP’s latest campaign targets government schools, an issue that affects millions of families but often receives less political attention than political controversies. We will not allow our children to be deprived of proper schools. He added, “We want the people of this country to lead this campaign. Government schools have been ignored since independence. Children living in villages have deliberately been deprived of education. This appears to be an attempt by the government to keep the country’s children powerless. Since the campaign began, the CJP has been posting videos showing the condition of government schools in different parts of the country. After launching the campaign, Dipke posted a video on X from a village where he had attended an Independence Day flag-hoisting ceremony. This leaves the CJP facing a difficult choice about its future. As a pressure group, it can focus on individual issues, build online campaigns and demand answers without having to present a complete political programme. It can also criticise both the government and opposition-ruled states over the condition of schools. A political party would also have to answer tougher questions about who would govern, how policies would be funded, who would contest elections and how it would respond when its own decisions come under scrutiny.
Its ‘School Theek Karo Abhiyan’ (fix the schools campaign), which was launched on August 15, raises a question about whether the group can continue to influence institutions without entering electoral politics. “We are starting the ‘School Theek Karo Abhiyan’ from August 15. Around 94,000 schools have been closed in the country in the last few years.
CJP spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka said the group would continue working as a pressure group rather than immediately turning itself into a political party. Talking to the media, he said the group want people to lead the campaign. And this is ‘Jantar Mantar Season Two’,” he said.
