Bjp Bets On Moditva To Counter Rise Of Cockroach Janta Party In Maharashtra

As the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) gains traction on social media, the BJP has chosen not to engage with the fledgling movement directly. Instead, the party is banking on a familiar formula, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s governance record, while deploying its organisational machinery to reach voters across Maharashtra.

Rather than responding to the growing online buzz around CJP, the BJP has launched an elaborate month-long outreach programme from June 7 to mark 12 years of the Modi government at the Centre. The campaign, themed “12 Years of Modi Government: Vishwas, Vikas, Janakalyan”, will see the party’s claimed 1.25-crore membership base mobilised through a series of public programmes.

Party sources said leaders, elected representatives and office-bearers have been instructed not to comment on CJP.

“There is a directive from the top not to make any comment about CJP,” a senior BJP source said. “The party has consciously decided to show that CJP and its following do not matter to the BJP and therefore do not deserve any cognisance.”

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis also appeared to brush aside the phenomenon. At an award function followed by a television interaction earlier this week, he remarked while looking at a picture of a cockroach: “The women will never vote for them knowing how harrowing it is to deal with cockroaches in the kitchen.”

A senior BJP functionary acknowledged that the party had taken note of the movement’s popularity among young people.

“As a political party we have certainly noted the CJP and its huge traction amongst the youths. But we are not unduly worried knowing it is all being played on the social media which will be short lived,” he said.

While the BJP has sought to downplay CJP’s emergence, its ally Shiv Sena has taken a more measured view.

Shiv Sena minister Sanjay Shirsat said, “The remarks of Chief Justice of India was provocative and insulting. The youths are bound to express their anger. They have shown their aggression and strength.”

Another Shiv Sena minister, Uday Samant, said, “It is an example of how youth unite. There is nothing wrong in youth coming together. How it evolves needs to be seen.”

Opposition leaders linked the phenomenon to growing public dissatisfaction with governments at both the Centre and in Maharashtra.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said, “This spontaneous outburst shows reality. It is an outcome of unrest due to massive unemployment and disillusionment with government.”

Even as leaders publicly dismissed the movement, some within the BJP acknowledged the need for caution.

A BJP minister, speaking on condition of anonymity, said, “In politics you can take any development lightly. Although we know it is social media, we cannot ignore the alerts. We are taking necessary measures through our work. We are not going to voice our thoughts about them (Cockroach Janta Party) in public.”

“As we believe it would give them more traction. Our strategy is ignore them, dismiss them and delete them from people’s mind.”

The minister added: “We are doubling efforts to hammer the good projects and policy decision taken by Modi in twelve years. Along with that also recall the good work in Maharashtra.”

The BJP’s outreach campaign will include public contact programmes, tree plantation drives, Swachhata Abhiyans, Pragati Path Yatras showcasing development projects, and district-level Viksit Bharat Sankalp Sammelans. Fadnavis formally launched the campaign while addressing party workers on May 26.

Party insiders said the BJP sees little reason to mount a direct political counterattack against CJP.

“The reason we are overlooking CJP and not announcing a counter is its non-seriousness. It is a satirical political movement,” a party insider said.

The source also defended the removal of CJP-related content from a social media handle, saying, “We are not aware who and how it was dropped.”

BJP strategists argue that Maharashtra has witnessed several mass mobilisations over the past decade that drew huge crowds but failed to translate into an electoral challenge.

“In past ten years we have seen several individual driven agitation which drew mammoth crowd. In Maharashtra, Jarange Patil’s Maratha reservation is an example. But could that translate into electoral battle against BJP,” a strategist said.

Party leaders believe similar movements will continue to emerge over the next few years, but insist that the BJP’s organisational network and RSS support base will help it weather such challenges.

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