Alleges systemic failures in education sector, particularly over NEET-UG 2026
New Delhi: Back with the tagline “Cockroaches Never Die” after its original X handle was withheld in India, the “Cockroach Janata Party” (CJP), a satirical social-media account, launched a campaign on Friday demanding the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. The campaign, spearheaded through CJP’s new X handle — “Cockroach Is Back” — and its Instagram platform, centres on alleged systemic failures in the education sector, particularly concerns surrounding the NEET-UG 2026 “paper-leak” controversy.
CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke urged followers to support an online petition demanding Pradhan’s resignation. “How are you cockroaches? Everyone is saying you are doing great on the internet, but I think now it is time to do some real work. Today, we are starting a petition demanding the resignation of the education minister,” Dipke said in a video message.
Calling for accountability, he said failures in the education system have adversely affected students.
“It is time now to make the system accountable. It was the fault of the system that over 22 lakh students’ future was impacted, it was the fault of the system that NEET students committed suicide. Whatever happens, Dharmendra Pradhan will have to resign,” he said.
The National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (Undergraduate) for admissions in medical courses held on May 3 was cancelled by the National Testing Agency (NTA) recently amid allegations of paper leak. The matter is being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and a re-test is scheduled to be held on June 21.
Dipke also claimed to have received threats amid the campaign against Pradhan, posting on social media: “Receiving death threats now.”
The resignation campaign comes a day after the original CJP handle was withheld in India by X, prompting Dipke to launch a new handle — “Cockroach is Back” — with the tagline — “Cockroaches Never Die”.
“This was expected since there were attempts to hack the account. But this is a self-goal by the government,” Dipke had told PTI, adding that his team would pursue legal remedies.
According to Dipke, the original CJP handle had more than two lakh followers before X withheld it. Till Friday afternoon, around 24 hours since its launch, the “Cockroach is Back” X handle had more than 1.65 lakh followers. On Instagram, the CJP crossed 20.5 million (2.05 crore) followers on Friday afternoon, leaving the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has around 9.1 million (91 lakh) followers on the Meta-owned platform, as well as main opposition party Congress, which has around 13.4 million (1.34 crore) followers, far behind.
On X, the BJP still rules the roost with 23 million (2.3 crore) followers, while the Congress’s official handle has 11.5 million (1.15 crore) followers.
The satirical platform emerged last week following a controversy around remarks attributed to Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant regarding “cockroaches” and “parasites” during a court hearing on the “senior” designation of lawyers. The CJI later clarified that his observations, directed at individuals entering the legal profession through “fake and bogus degrees”, were misquoted.
What began as an online satire project has since evolved into a wider conversation on digital dissent and youth frustration, with the platform using memes and sharp political commentary to address issues, such as unemployment, exam-paper leaks and education.
The rapid rise has drawn attention not only from meme creators and young users but also from public figures who view it as a form of digital dissent.
Politicians, including Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders Mahua Moitra and Kirti Azad and Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav, have engaged with or expressed interest in the movement alongside activists, such as Prashant Bhushan and Anjali Bharadwaj.
