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By:

Abhijit Joshi

31 August 2024 at 10:09:24 am

When the Cockroach Enters Politics

Regardless of whether or not the CJP wins an election, its rise signals a changing relationship between young Indians and political power. It would be tempting to dismiss the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) as another internet curiosity destined to enjoy a brief moment of virality before disappearing into the digital ether. Politics, however, has a habit of taking jokes more seriously than their creators intended. Whether the CJP eventually becomes a political force, lends its energies to another...

When the Cockroach Enters Politics

Regardless of whether or not the CJP wins an election, its rise signals a changing relationship between young Indians and political power. It would be tempting to dismiss the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) as another internet curiosity destined to enjoy a brief moment of virality before disappearing into the digital ether. Politics, however, has a habit of taking jokes more seriously than their creators intended. Whether the CJP eventually becomes a political force, lends its energies to another party, survives as a pressure group or simply fades away is impossible to know. But its emergence has already exposed something worth watching: a section of young Indians is becoming increasingly comfortable turning political frustration into organised digital dissent. Edgy Satire The CJP began in the language of satire, irreverence and internet culture. Its appeal lies partly in refusing the solemnity with which conventional Indian politics often presents itself. Parties arrive with flags, slogans, manifestos and carefully choreographed leaders. The CJP arrived with a joke. Yet behind the joke is a familiar political instinct: the desire to puncture institutions that appear too comfortable, too self-important or too remote from the citizen. India has seen this impulse before, though usually in different forms. Political movements have repeatedly emerged from dissatisfaction with established parties, bureaucratic opacity or the sense that the political class speaks at citizens rather than with them. What is different now is the medium. A generation raised on social media does not necessarily distinguish between political communication, entertainment and satire. A meme can make an argument; a viral video can become a campaign; a joke can acquire a constituency. This is precisely why established parties should resist the urge to laugh too quickly. India’s political parties are still largely organised around structures inherited from another age: hierarchical leadership, local cadres, rallies, posters and television appearances. Young voters, meanwhile, inhabit a political ecosystem in which authority is fragmented and attention is scarce. They are accustomed to questioning institutions in public, challenging narratives instantly and moving between causes with remarkable speed. They may not want another party in the traditional mould. They may want politics itself to behave differently. Interesting Experiment The CJP therefore represents an interesting experiment, regardless of whether it survives electorally. Its first challenge is credibility. Satire is a powerful weapon against hypocrisy, but governing requires rather more than exposing it. It is relatively easy to ridicule politicians, bureaucracy or public policy. It is harder to propose workable alternatives, build an organisation, select candidates, raise money transparently and maintain internal discipline. Every anti-establishment movement eventually encounters the awkward transition from saying what is wrong to explaining what should replace it. That is where many insurgent political projects falter. The second challenge is endurance. Digital movements can acquire astonishing momentum and lose it almost as quickly. The internet rewards novelty, provocation and emotional intensity. Politics demands patience. A movement that depends too heavily on its ability to generate attention can find itself trapped by the very ecosystem that created it. Yesterday’s viral cause is easily displaced by today’s scandal, controversy or meme. Yet dismissing such movements because they are ephemeral would also be a mistake. Political influence does not necessarily require winning elections. A pressure group can alter the vocabulary of public debate; an online movement can force established parties to address issues they would rather avoid; a small organisation can become disproportionately influential if larger parties begin borrowing its language. This is perhaps the most interesting possibility for the CJP. Its ultimate significance may not lie in the number of seats it wins, but in the questions it persuades others to answer. That is also why its rise should be viewed in the wider context of India’s changing political electorate. Young Indians are not uniformly anti-establishment, nor are they naturally aligned with any particular ideology. But many are less deferential towards political authority than previous generations. They have access to more information, more competing narratives and more opportunities to organise themselves outside traditional institutions. They can be cynical, impatient and contradictory. They can also be intensely political. Traditional parties often misunderstand this generation by treating it as an audience to be targeted rather than a constituency to be engaged. A slick social-media campaign is not the same thing as listening. Young voters may enjoy memes, but that does not mean their political concerns are frivolous. Employment, education, housing, urban infrastructure, corruption and the quality of public institutions remain stubbornly material concerns. The CJP’s real test, then, is whether it can convert irreverence into relevance. If it can, India’s political parties may have to contend with something they are not accustomed to: political competition that does not begin in a party office, a caste network or a traditional ideological organisation, but on a phone screen. If it cannot, the CJP will join the long list of internet phenomena that briefly captured attention before vanishing. Either outcome would tell us something. For now, the cockroach has achieved the one thing every political movement seeks before it can hope to achieve anything else: people are talking about it. Whether it becomes a party, a pressure group, a political ally or merely a footnote remains uncertain. But the question has changed. The political establishment no longer needs to ask, “Who are these young people?” It needs to ask a more uncomfortable question: "What are they going to ask next?" (The writer is a political observer. Views personal.)

Knives out in legislature

Updated: Mar 21, 2025

Disha Salian

Mumbai: Death of celebrity manager Disha Salian in 2020 once again rocked the Maharashtra legislature on Thursday. While cabinet ministers Nitesh Rane and Shambhuraj Desai demanded that Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aditya Thackeray be arrested in the case, BJP MLA Amit Satam in the assembly and another BJP member Chitra Wagh in the council demanded that the report of SIT to probe Salian’s death be made public.


Incidentally, amidst repeated disruptions in both the houses, some members from the treasury benches were seen speaking in favour of Aditya Thackeray, while Shiv Sena (UBT) members like Adv Anil Parab were seen supporting the BJP members’ demand that the report of the SIT probe be made public. In addition, there were allegations and counter allegations and personal accusations among members from the treasury and opposition benches which led to heated debate on occasions.


The opposition termed the attempts from the treasury benches to link Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aditya Thackeray’s name in the case, as a ‘conspiracy’.


“I think this matter has gone to the court. We have no idea what he (Disha’s father) has said, but Aaditya Thackeray is a mature leader, a young leader. The Bharatiya Janata Party is conspiring to defame him by putting pressure on him. We don’t need to answer to this conspiracy. The court will answer,” Ambadas Danve said.


Earlier in the day, when the house gathered for the business, Minister of State for Home appraised the assembly of the status in this case. “SIT has been formed to probe in the case. Their report has not been received as yet. However, the government shall act according to directives from the court,” the minister told the house.


Another BJP minister Nitesh Rane, however, said that since Satish Salian has levelled allegations against an MVA minister, that leader be treated like a common person and that everybody should be treated equally before the law. Shiv Sena minister Shambhuraj Desai too supported the demand. “Since the allegations are grave, the person in question should be immediately arrested and the case be investigated,” he said.


Later, while speaking to media in the legislature premises, Rane asked Uddhav Thackeray to come clean on the issue. “If they say that we are politicizing the issue, Uddhav Thackeray should also tell the people why he had called, not just once but twice, to the then union minister Narayan Rane urging him to save his son?” Rane said.


He also accused the opposition of shying away from coming clean on the issue. “If they feel that we are not telling the truth, they should say so in the house. But they are shying away from doing so. Bhaskar Jadhav, who is always aggressive, was nowhere to be seen when this issue came up in the house. Sunil Prabhu too escaped the house under the pretext of a phone call. I challenge them to say that whatever I said on the issue is wrong,” Rane said.


He also said that Aditya Thackeray should resign on moral grounds till his name is cleared in the case.


BJP MLA Amit Satam demanded that the details of the SIT probe be made public so that the people would know if the probe is headed in right direction.


Interestingly, while the ruling parties were targeting the opposition in the case, senior BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar surprised all with his unexpected support to Thackerays. “I do not have any evidences in the case. But if her father has made any fresh allegations that needs to be investigated thoroughly. The assembly can discuss the issue at length tomorrow. In the meanwhile, members like Rane, who seem to have some evidences in the case should hand them over to the investigating agencies and help the probe,” he told the house.


Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Gaikwad and Sheetal Mhatre too toed the line and demanded that more and more evidences should come forth.


Similarly, when members of treasury benches were pushing for revealing the details of the probe till date to the public, Shiv Sena (UBT) member Anil Parab supported the demand. “Doing that shall conclusively prove the innocence of Aditya Thackeray,” he said.

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