Parents of viral ‘Cockroach Janta Party’ founder fear arrest, urge son to quit politics

The rapid rise of social media satire platform Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) has left the parents of its founder, Abhijeet Dipke, worried about his safety and possible legal trouble as the page continues to gain massive traction online.

Founded barely a week ago by Dipke, a Boston University student previously associated with Aam Aadmi Party, the platform has crossed 19 million followers on Instagram through political satire, memes and commentary focused on issues such as unemployment, paper leaks and education.

Speaking to a Marathi news channel, Dipke’s parents Bhagwan and Anita Dipke said they never wanted their son to enter politics and have been deeply anxious since learning about the popularity of the platform.

“If we look at politics nowadays, fear is natural, no matter how many followers he has,” Bhagwan Dipke said. Referring to one of his son’s interviews, he added that Abhijeet had “expressed fear of being arrested after returning to India”.

“I have not slept for the past two nights worrying about what might happen to him,” he said, adding, “I hate politics and have no interest in it.”

Anita Dipke said the family wanted their son to focus on a stable career instead of political activism.

“We just want him to come home safely,” she said. “Whether he continues in politics will be his decision, but we do not want him to pursue it.”

She added that Abhijeet studied first in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar before moving to Pune for further studies. According to her, he later shifted from engineering to mass media after finding the former difficult.

His father said Abhijeet decided to pursue journalism abroad as his sister was already overseas, though the family had hoped he would eventually take up a job in Pune or New Delhi.

The parents said they first came to know about the Cockroach Janta Party through neighbours and relatives.

“Later, I was told by one of my grandchildren that he has more followers on social media than many prominent people in the country,” Anita said.

The platform emerged following controversy around remarks attributed to Chief Justice of India Surya Kant during a hearing on senior designation for lawyers. The reported use of the terms “parasites” and “cockroaches” triggered online debate, although the CJI later clarified that his comments had been misquoted and were aimed at people entering the profession with “fake and bogus degrees”.

Using the cockroach as its symbol, the CJP quickly went viral with satirical posts, graphics and manifesto-style content targeting political and governance issues.