India’s Cockroach Janta Party, a youth movement that began as online satire, is pressing for jobs and fair elections, with founder Abhijeet Dipke telling Al Jazeera it seeks government accountability.
Al Jazeera said thousands joined May demonstrations over leaked exam papers, unemployment and rising living costs. An education minister left the post in the weeks afterward, the outlet reported.
Dipke said the movement wants officials to listen to young people and improve education and employment. Its demands also include free and fair elections, Al Jazeera reported.
CJP and opposition parties accuse the Election Commission of India (ECI) of changing voter lists to benefit Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The ECI denies wrongdoing and says its revisions are aimed at removing entries for deceased people, duplicate records and voters it considers ineligible, Al Jazeera reported.
In an Oct. 28 post on X, Dipke endorsed the planned Nov. 1 INDIA bloc rally and called for the election chief to resign, as EconoTimes previously reported in its account of Dipke’s post.
The BJP accused demonstrators of causing disorder and weakening democracy, while Dipke disputed that characterization, Al Jazeera reported. The outlet also said Dipke and several other CJP leaders have been arrested.
