Youth Congress dives into 'cockroaches’ meme, launches 'Indian Youth Cockroaches' campaign

New Delhi: Amid the growing popularity of the online satirical outfit, the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), the Indian Youth Congress (IYC) on Tuesday launched the ‘Indian Youth Cockroaches’ campaign, describing it as a nationwide youth resistance movement against unemployment, paper leaks and corruption under the BJP-led Centre.

The campaign, launched under the leadership of IYC in-charge Manish Sharma and the wing’s president Uday Bhanu Chib, seeks to reclaim the term ‘cockroaches’, which the organisation said had been used to mock protesting youth.

The term ‘cockroaches’ has been gaining widespread attention in the Indian political discourse following the emergence of the Cockroach Janta Party, a digital-only satirical campaign.

The CJP was founded by 30-year-old Abhijit Dipke after Chief Justice of India Surya Kant compared unemployed youth who drift into activism and journalism to “cockroaches" and “parasites."

Chib said the movement would continue both online and on the ground through protests and mobilisation by the Youth Congress workers across the country.

In a statement, the youth wing of the Congress party alleged that young people raising concerns over unemployment and alleged institutional failures were being ‘labelled anti-national, jailed, intimidated and silenced’.

“If demanding jobs, justice and accountability make India’s youth cockroaches in the eyes of power, then yes, we proudly accept it,” Sharma said.

“These Indian Youth Cockroaches are the young Indians who refuse to stay silent, who continue resisting despite FIRs, jail, intimidation and repression,” he added.

Sharma said the campaign was “not just a campaign” but a “collective resistance of young Indians whose future is being destroyed”.

Chib said the IYC doesn’t “fear FIRs, jail, intimidation, account suspensions or repression,” referring to recent protests by the organisation.

The IYC also launched ‘Sack Pradhan’ petition seeking accountability and resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over repeated paper leak incidents.

IYC National Secretary and National Chairman of Social Media Manu Jain said the campaign represented “the anger, frustration and resistance of an entire generation”.

“Through social media, AI-driven campaigns and ground mobilisation, we are building a national movement demanding jobs, justice and accountability,” he said.

The organisation also launched a dedicated digital platform inviting young people to register themselves as part of the campaign.

The IYC said it would continue raising issues related to unemployment, examination paper leaks and corruption “in every street, every campus and every corner of India”.