New Delhi’s Jantar Mantar has turned into a sit-in site again. A day after police used tear gas and batons on thousands marching towards the Parliament, hundreds of supporters of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) remain camped there, refusing to leave until Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigns. Delhi Police said nearly 180 people were injured in Monday’s crackdown, including both protesters and security personnel. At the centre of this movement is Abhijeet Dipke, a 30-year-old political communication strategist whose academic background explains a great deal about how a joke became a national conversation.
From Pune to Boston
Abhijeet Dipke was born in Aurangabad, Maharashtra, now renamed Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. He completed his undergraduate degree in journalism in Pune, where he first engaged with media ethics, political reporting and public communication. He later moved to the United States and earned a Master of Science in Public Relations from Boston University, studying how messaging shapes public perception in the digital age.
A campaign background before CJP
Between 2020 and 2023, Dipke volunteered with the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) social media team. During the 2020 Delhi Assembly election, won by Arvind Kejriwal’s AAP, Dipke worked on meme-based digital campaigns aimed at young voters. That period gave him direct experience of how internet culture translates into political engagement, long before CJP existed.
Where satire met strategy
In 2023, Abhijeet Dipke returned to Aurangabad while preparing his US applications. After completing his degree, he launched the Cockroach Janta Party on 16 May 2026, days after Chief Justice of India Surya Kant compared unemployed youth to cockroaches during a hearing. What began as a satirical response, built by someone trained in journalism and communication rather than party politics, quickly crossed thousands of sign-ups and turned into the movement now demanding education reform at Jantar Mantar.
