The cockroach dilemma facing India’s political parties

How does the cockroach protest alter India’s political landscape? A considerable section of those opposed to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) sees hope in the mobilisation triggered by the self-deprecating cockroach activists. Some even believe that political parties— particularly the Congress — should fall in line with the outfit that calls itself the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), which took its name from a remark by a judge of the Supreme Court of India who likened India’s disgruntled youth to cockroaches. An opposing view, expressed as hope within the BJP and concern within the Congress, is that this protest could cannibalise the latter. “AAP [the Aam Aadmi Party] finished the Congress in Delhi and Punjab. Let’s see where the CJP ends the Congress,” Devendra Kumar, an election strategist who works with the BJP, posted on X.