A lawyer for Haryana’s Panipat party has filed an application with the Election Commission of India (ECI) to register the online satirical collective Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) in its own name, separately from its US-based founder Abhijit Debaki, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.
Sudhir Jakhar, a lawyer who calls himself the party’s national convener, submitted the application to the Secretary of the Election Commission of India for registration under Section 29A of the Representation of People Act. The application bears the logo of the Justice and Development Party’s cockroach and the name of Jacquard as a lawyer. Jakar’s registered CJP party can claim its social media handles.
The CJP was launched this month amid anger over Indian Supreme Court Chief Justice Surya Kant’s comments on unemployed youth. “There are young people, like cockroaches, who are not getting any job or any place in the profession. Some of them become media professionals, some of them become social media activists, RTI activists, other activists, and they start attacking everyone.”
The CJP’s X account was blocked in India last Thursday, five days after its launch. The CJP has emerged as one of the fastest growing online trends in the country. Her Instagram account has reportedly surpassed the number of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) followers. Thousands of users have signed up through online membership forms.
Jakhar said that the party contacted Debaki and urged him to return to India to register the party. He added that Debke, who is pursuing a master’s degree at Boston University, refused to do so. “Deepki refused to come to India and turn this movement into an actual political party at the ground level. After seeing the anger among the youth and the scale of what had been built, we felt that if someone else registered the name first and misused it, the entire movement would be lost. We decided to go ahead ourselves to ensure that does not happen,” Jakhar said.
Dipke did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Jakhar was scheduled to appear before the Election Commission of India on Tuesday to submit the remaining documents. Promoting fundamental duties under Article 51A of the Constitution, democratic participation, social scrutiny of governance, environment protection, animal welfare, legal awareness, protection of whistleblowers, transparency, communal harmony and peaceful democratic reforms are among the party goals submitted by Jakhar to the Election Commission of India.
They differ from the RJD’s original five demands, including no Rajya Sabha seats for retired senior judges, prosecution under the anti-terrorism law for deleting votes, 50% reservation for women in Parliament and the Cabinet, cancellation of media licenses for billionaire industrialists, and a 20-year ban on political dissenters.
The Election Commission of India has the power to determine the authorized office bearers of a registered party under the Electoral Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968. It exercised this power when the Shiv Sena and NCP split.
If approved, the CJP could become an unrecognized registered political party, which is what the Tamil Nadu Vetri Kazhagam Party did when it won 108 of the 234 seats and formed the government in Tamil Nadu this month. The Aam Aadmi Party was in the same category when it came to power in Delhi in 2013.
The party’s cockroach symbol is unlikely to be approved. ECI law prohibits such symbols, with the only exception being the lion and elephant. The list of free icons contains 164 items, including a pasta pot, pressure cooker, and baby walker. Does not include insect.
