Cockroach Janta Party beats 143-year-old Congress after BJP on the 'gram

The Cockroach Janta Party's Instagram handle has overtaken India's oldest political party, the 143-year-old Congress, in terms of followers. The CJP had earlier overtaken the BJP. With this, the cockroach party has overtaken every Indian political party within just five days of its existence.

For decades, India's political parties built their influence through rallies, cadre networks, and years of organisational groundwork. But the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) on Thursday overtook them all in terms of Instagram followership, achieving in just five days what others took years to build.

It has now surpassed the 143-year-old Congress, which previously had the highest follower count on the platform.

The CJP, a satirical online movement born just five days ago after the remarks of the Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant targeting some unemployed youths, overtook the ruling BJP's follower count earlier on Thursday morning, and within hours, it has surpassed every single political party in India, beating the Congress's 13.3 million Instagram followers.

The account, operating under the handle @cockroachjantaparty on Instagram, surged past 13.3 million followers at the time of the publishing of this report.

The BJP's official Instagram account @bjp4india currently has around 8.7 million followers, and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which was founded in 2012, has nearly 1.9 million followers.

What makes the rise more extraordinary is not just the speed, but the nature of the movement itself. The CJP has no election symbol, no headquarters, no formal leadership structure, and no offline organisation. Yet it is managing to dominate India's online political discourse through memes, satire, and frustration-driven participation by young social media users.

Within days, the CJP has evolved from a meme campaign into a digital protest movement centred around issues like unemployment, exam paper leaks, and political accountability. The outfit describes itself as "a political front of the youth, by the youth, for the youth". The CJP rapidly gained traction among Gen Z users in the country.

The CJP is also receiving massive support from politicians and activists who have started engaging with the campaign online. Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap, actors Dia Mirza, Esha Gupta, and Fatima Sana Shaikh, along with director Kunal Kohli and comedian Kunal Kamra, are reportedly among those following the party's official Instagram handle.

Earlier, TMC MPs Mahua Moitra and Kirti Azad have also extended their support to the CJP. The CJP is celebrating its rise with posts mocking mainstream political establishments and urging followers not to "underestimate the power of youth".

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