The founder of India’s viral Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) arrived in New Delhi on Saturday to lead a protest against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, taking the country’s largest online youth movement to the streets for the first time.Abhijeet Dipke, 30, who has lived in the United States for the past two years, had said his family and friends feared he could be arrested on his return to India.Dozens of police officers gathered near Jantar Mantar in central Delhi on Saturday, barricading some of the surrounding roads as protesters shouted slogans demanding the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.Modi’s government has blocked the movement’s X account in the country, a move CJP has challenged in a Delhi court. Senior cabinet minister Kiren Rijiju has accused the group of seeking followers from arch-enemy Pakistan and the “anti-India gang”.CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke displays Indian social reformer Dr. B.R. Ambedkar’s autobiography upon his arrival at the airport in Delhi on Saturday. Photo: AFPCJP, which has amassed roughly 22 million Instagram followers since launching in mid-May, is the largest online expression of dissent against the Hindu nationalist Modi’s 12-year-old rule, fuelled by persistently high youth unemployment and recurring leaks of examination papers that threaten to derail the careers of millions of students.
Cockroach Janta Party founder risks arrest to lead Indian youth protest
The mock political party with roughly 22 million Instagram followers is the largest online expression of dissent against Narendra Modi.












