With Wangchuk on hunger strike and Opposition watching from a distance, Abhijeet Dipke's fledgling outfit must decide what it stands for once the cameras move on
At Delhi’s Jantar Mantar, where the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) is on a peaceful protest for the removal of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, there is a hovering fear of a police crackdown. Every other announcement by the CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke, an Ambedkarite from Maharashtra, is punctuated by appeals to the protesters not to worry. When Dipke asked volunteers to come on stage and introduce themselves, one of them gave his full name and address, saying, “Police can come to my house. No problem (Koi dikkath nahi).” These appeals are also a taunt and a challenge, showing off the anger of about 500 youngsters from all over north India assembled there.
As of now, the CJP may be seen as a minor pest by the ruling BJP party, which has surprisingly given them permission to protest, a privilege denied to many organisations. The ruling party clearly hopes that since it is a spontaneous outpouring, it will die down and Pradhan will continue as if nothing happened. In keeping with its stonewalling tactics, the BJP has not reacted to the party or its protests, and as usual, will brazen it out. The CJP was formed following a social media outburst after the NEET exam (admission test for government medical colleges across the country) question papers were leaked through a few professors based in Pune and surrounding areas. Cockroach was used by the Chief Justice of India (CJI) Justice Surya Kant in an oral observation while referring to unemployed youth, which the CJP has now come to symbolise.
22 million sign up on social media
Within no time, the CJP had assumed the size of a political party, crowding the centrist space with 22 million signing up on social media. The Jantar Mantar protest is aimed at giving the CJP a physical form apart from political colour. From the groups assembled at the site, it is clear that it is a Leftist-Ambedkarite organisation as of now. Ladakh-based activist Sonam Wangchuk has also joined the CJP and is on a hunger strike to press the demand for Pradhan’s resignation.
Opposition parties were a bit wary and did not know how to approach it. However, some Opposition party members have now visited the site to offer support to embarrass the BJP, as nonchalant as ever. The ruling party, which has, over the years, proved that it is beyond embarrassment, above political morality, parliamentary convention, and respect for the law, has maintained a daring and stoic silence.
Also read: Hirak Rajar Deshe vs Cockroach Janata Party: Gen Z satire echoes Satyajit Ray’s dystopia
There are rumours that Pradhan may be replaced as part of a much-expected Cabinet reshuffle. Irrespective of what happens to Pradhan, the question is what shape the CJP will take in the immediate future. Dipke has jumped into the deep end of the political pool, and so, for survival, mere flapping around will not do. He needs to swim fast and hard to take the party/group along with him. The millions of students who felt cheated by the shoddy conduct of the NEET exam (the re-exam was conducted without any hitch or reports of leak) are now nowhere to be seen, and some of the anger seem to have evaporated. But all it requires is another incident and the anger will surface again. The CJP is now a sort of political tinder box.
Even if Wangchuk is removed from the protest site, the CJP will continue to be present there. The SFI, the AIDSU and some Ambedkarite groups present there are veteran protestors, and the street is their political ally
Outside of Jantar Mantar, how will CJP position itself or survive? Dipke, on his arrival in Delhi from the US, had, without any fuss, positioned the organisation he started on X (Formerly Twitter), as a Leftist-Ambedkarite group by holding high the biography of BR Ambedkar at the airport. But the problem with the NEET students is that most of them are pro-establishment, mostly BJP voters based in cities and living in sweat chambers in Rajasthan, where rote learning is mastered. Most of them seem to have vanished because for them the larger political question is already settled: Between anti-Pradhan, anti-BJP, and anti-Muslim, pro-Ambedkar, it must have been an easy pick for most of these youngsters.
Dike has political future
Even if Wangchuk is removed from the protest site, the CJP will continue to be present there. The SFI, the AIDSU and some Ambedkarite groups present there are veteran protestors, and the street is their political ally. Will this force the CJP to pitch its tent in the Leftist camp? That seems to be the case unless the Opposition INDIA alliance decides to give it a leg up by supporting some youngsters as candidates and dragging it back into a centrist grouping. Dipke has, without doubt, a political future.
Also read: Cockroach Janta Party linked to AAP? Founder Abhijeet Dipke’s past ties raise questions
The reason for the sudden infusion of energy into the CJP grouping is the shocking success story of actor C Joseph Vijay’s TVK party in Tamil Nadu. There is a perception that the social media and GenX drove Vijay to power. If TVK why not CJP also, the satire of its name notwithstanding? It must have given hope to Dipke and others that political messaging is not that difficult anymore and social media will take them home. Vijay made only 18 speeches to convince Tamil Nadu to shed Dravidian politics and try a new version run by unknown people who are seemingly angry.
Dipke has shown sheer courage in these difficult times for Opposition parties. Over the last 10 years, many other deeply angered parties, too, have sat at Janta Mantar. Not all of them are around
The CJP also has a close resemblance to other parties that sprouted over the last few years as parties of resistance to the BJP. One such example is the Bhim Army, formed by Chandrashekhar Azad, a more aggressive form of Ambedkarism, as a counter to the laziness of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) of Mayawati. The aim obviously was to have a more militant version of Dalit assertion, unlike the office version of Mayawati, who is in a permanent state of stupor. The Bhim Army was promising at the beginning, and its founder was jailed, a routine practise in the new India being crafted by the BJP. Azad is now a Member of Parliament, having won the Uttar Pradesh elections. The third such party is the Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM of Hyderabad, which is a slightly aggressive form of Islamic assertion, compared to the pro-establishment Muslim League of Kerala.
INDIA alliance's backing
There is anger and frustration, and if you can be the face of that, some votes will come your way. But Dipke on the streets is not going to get the unquestioned support of its 22 million social media followers because most of these NEET exam wallahs are upper or middle caste and class, and thus there is no larger anger against the BJP. The rump of NEET-JEET, Kota jobless-despite-many-exams crowd may remain with CJP but definitely they have to show the persistence of the pest after which it is named.
Also read: Ram temple theft: With RSS-BJP cornered, will Congress seize the moment?
Here, the fight is for the centrist space, though the parties named above have no high ambitions like AAP. For the Congress, these small organisations create problems, though they are on the same side of the political fence. This is why the Congress of INDIA alliance itself has not openly backed CJP but only visited and offered support on the sly. The INDIA bloc could have easily organised a march in Delhi in support of the CJP demands, which is their demand too, but most of their constituents find that ideology is easily transfixed as many MPs ditch them. The BJP has systematically finished off smaller parties, Left/Centre or Right, to prove that if Hinduism is your plank, then leave the room, the logo, the party, and the colour is ours.
Dipke has shown sheer courage in these difficult times for Opposition parties. Over the last 10 years, many other deeply angered parties, too, have sat at Janta Mantar. Not all of them are around. Defiance and anger are in short supply. It is here that Dipke shines a little light.
(The Federal seeks to present views and opinions from all sides of the spectrum. The information, ideas or opinions in the articles are of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Federal.)
