India’s Own Affordability And Jobs Crisis Drives A Growing ‘Cockroach’ Protest

BreakingBusinessIndia’s Own Affordability And Jobs Crisis Drives A Growing ‘Cockroach’ ProtestBySiladitya Ray,Forbes Staff. Siladitya Ray is a New Delhi-based Forbes news team reporter.Follow AuthorMay 20, 2026, 06:00pm EDTToplineA brewing affordability crisis, rising youth unemployment and a flippant remark calling young people “cockroaches” by the country’s Chief Justice have triggered a spontaneous political movement among India’s Gen Z that has satirically embraced the insult and garnered nearly 5 million followers on social media.Indian student protest the cancelation of a federally administered exam, something the CJP has highlighted in its manifesto as a failure of the current government.AFP via Getty ImagesKey FactsA political collective that identifies itself as the “Cockroach Janta Party” (Cockroach People’s Party) emerged late last week after the Chief Justice of India Surya Kant described young, unemployed Indians as being “like cockroaches.”Kant, who has since distanced himself from the comments after facing backlash, had said the “cockroaches” who don’t find employment “become media…social media” or Right to Information activists who “start attacking everyone.”Kant’s comments triggered anger and criticism on social media, and the cockroach, which began as a joke, was soon embraced as a mascot of a political movement started by 30-year-old Abhijeet Dipke.Since then, the online gag has transformed into a political movement with a website, manifesto, more than 160,000 “members,” millions of social media followers and media interviews.The movement has since started calling out Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, demanding answers about soaring costs, lack of promised jobs and mishandling of federally administered university exams.Modi, who is on a foreign tour, and senior members of the BJP have so far not commented on the upstart political group. if (!window.cnxel) { window.cnxel = {}; window.cnxel.cmd = []; var iframe = do...