The Cockroach Party: A Generation Fighting for its Future

Photo via Ritesh Shukla/Getty Images

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On October 16, fuming citizens of New Delhi flooded Connaught Place, one of the city’s busiest commercial districts, demanding the resignation of the country’s election chief, Gyanesh Kumar. According to Reuters, allegations from the government’s opposition parties claimed that 130 million names had been removed from electoral rolls during the voting verification process in the previous state election; concerns arose about the legitimacy of the process and the authentic motives of the government. The removals appeared to be ethnically and religiously targeted, as a majority of the 130 million names removed were Muslims and other minorities, voters who were unlikely to support the current Hindu Nationalist ruling party. 

This issue truly began in 2025 when votes for the Indian state legislator were held, and the election commission announced an electoral revision in those states with the need to “clean up” electoral rolls. This resulted in a Supreme Court trial, which was inconclusive due to prolonged negotiations. However, according to Time Magazine, in the state of West Bengal, an area where Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party had never won a state election, found that 12% of the electorate were excluded from the rolls. In 2026, this phenomenon became widespread as the Election Commission struck again, calling for a special intensive revision, the same process used to exclude the 12% of the electorate. 

Leading this resistance is the Cockroach Janta Party. This party was formed in May 2026 when India’s Supreme Court Chief Justice Surya Kant compared unemployed young people to cockroaches in an unrelated court hearing. This comment sparked an online backlash, causing Boston University graduate Abhijeet Dipke to start an online campaign, appealing to many young Indians, asking on X, “What if all the cockroaches come together?” Within hours, the post gained traction with thousands sharing and commenting, starting the launch of the Cockroach Janta Party. The Party took to the streets on various occasions to protest against the government, with one of its largest occurring over the summer of 2026. 

Adding to these injustices, in May, the government invalidated national medical exam test results for about 2 million students after test questions had been leaked. For context, this standardized test not only determined how equipped the student was, but also determined the general success and well-being of the student as well. The exam was accessible to the middle class, offering populous country rations and access to thousands of public sector jobs. As a result, the test is statistically harder than getting into Ivy League schools; however, if taken well, it results in lifelong security and an escape from poverty. 

To increase the stakes of this exam, the job market in India is eroding at an unbearable rate, as it is almost impossible to obtain a high-paying job. To put it into context, corporate job growth in India slowly decreased from 11% to 3% in the decade before 2020. Furthermore, manufacturing industries have struggled to generate jobs, resulting in a significant portion of Indians working in agriculture, except for the younger generation. As a result, India’s economic growth has been driven largely by the service sector rather than by a strong expansion of manufacturing. This has been recognized by the public, and as a result, the younger generation has strived to obtain jobs outside of agriculture. However, as the typical median age of agriculture workers increases, the need for young agriculture workers grows, despite their desires. 

Given that the government has undermined citizens’ ability to secure a comfortable life, limited their ability to obtain a well-paying job, revoked minorities’ right to participate in fair elections, and manipulated election results to benefit the ruling party, it is understandable why the Cockroaches have taken to the streets in protest. The leader of the Cockroach Janta party was detained for his actions against the government on October 16. However, despite his detention, he has caused such a powerful movement among the youth that they continue to fight for their freedom, their rights, and their lives. The government has been a root cause of their oppression, and as a result, this rise of Cockroach Janta members is not just a social movement, but a fight for future generations of Indians. 

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This article was edited by Kaitlyn Horn and Melisa Sezgin.