The meteoric rise of the satirical online movement, ‘Cockroach Janta Party’ (CJP) has sparked political chatter across social media platforms, but behind the viral memes and humour stands a deeply anxious family fearing for the safety of its founder, Abhijeet Dipke. Dipke’s parents on Friday publicly voiced concern over his growing popularity and stance on politics, admitting that they fear he could either face legal action or even arrest, as the platform continues to gain traction nationwide. 

Notably, the platform surpassed the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Indian National Congress (INC) in terms of follower count on Instagram on Thursday. 

“We don’t want him in politics,” say parents

Dipke’s father, Bhagwan Dipke and mother Anita Dipke, who reside in Maharashtra’s Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar spoke to a Marathi news channel, saying that the sudden spotlight on their son has left them worried. The father said, “What is happening in politics these days naturally creates fear, no matter how many followers he has,” adding that in one of his (Abhijeet’s) videos, he himself admitted to fearing arrest upon India touchdown. 

Dipke’s mother Anita also echoed similar sentiments, saying she had always hoped her son would choose a stable profession instead of entering the political arena. She said, “We just want him to come home safely. Whether he continues in politics is his decision, but we do not want him to pursue it. I don’t know whether he will listen to us or not. I will not support him in this. I am worried about him.” 

Dipke came a long way from engineering struggles to political satire

As detailed by his family, Dipke pursued his school education in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and later moved to Pune for higher studies. His mother Anita said that engineering studies became challenging for him, owing to which he turned towards journalism and mass communication. 

Bhagwan said his son later moved abroad to pursue Journalism studies at Boston University, where his sister was already settled. 

Family came to know about CJP through neighbours

Another interesting fact came to the fore when Dipke’s parents said they initially had little idea about the scale of the online movement their son had created. Anita said, “We first heard about CJP from relatives and neighbours. Later, one of my grandchildren told me that he had more social media followers than many prominent personalities in the country.” She further recalled that Dipke had worked with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) earlier, a move she had never supported fully. 

Meanwhile, Bhagwan said, "I have not slept for two nights fearing what may happen to him. I hate politics and have no interest in it."

Satire movement turns into internet phenomenon

The CJP trend erupted online after the Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant allegedly made remarks on the country’s youth during a hearing concerning serious designation for a lawyer. 

Abhijeet claimed that he concocted the idea for the movement after reports suggested the CJI had used terms such as ‘parasites’ and ‘cockroaches’ while slamming individuals entering the legal profession through fake degrees.

However, the CJI clarified later that his comments had been misinterpreted and were directed specifically at people acquiring ‘bogus’ degrees. Despite the clarification, the satirical movement snowballed online through memes, mock political campaigns and youth-centric commentary focusing on unemployment, exam paper leaks and education issues. The platform faced a setback on Thursday after its ‘X’ account was banned in India. Soon afterwards, Dipke announced a new account titled ‘Cockroach is Back,’ fuelling online curiosity around the controversial digital movement.