Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke has thanked Chief Justice of India Justice Surya Kant for “helping” the Gen Z and student-led movement against NEET-UG 2026 paper leak and examination-related irregularities, saying he gives credit to the CJI for “waking us up”.
Notably, the CJP was formed after a controversy over remarks attributed to CJI Kant, who had referred to some sections of unemployed youth as "cockroaches" and "parasites" during a hearing on May 15.
However, the CJI later clarified that his remarks were aimed at people entering the legal profession using "fake and bogus degrees" and that he had been misquoted.
CJP’s Abhijeet Dipke ‘thanks’ CJI Kant
The CJP founder, in an interview with independent media platform Peek TV, thanked the chief justice for his remarks, saying that his remarks led him to return to India from the United States, where he had graduated from Boston University, and launch the student-led campaign against irregularities in examinations.
“The real credit goes to him. Had he not used the word cockroach, I wouldn't have come back to India. There would have been no CJP, there would have been no hunger strike by Mr Sonam Wangchuk. There wouldn't have been thousands and lakhs of people on the streets across India,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}“The real credit goes to him. Had he not used the word cockroach, I wouldn't have come back to India. There would have been no CJP, there would have been no hunger strike by Mr Sonam Wangchuk. There wouldn't have been thousands and lakhs of people on the streets across India,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}When asked about people referring to CJI Kant as the “founder” of the CJP, Dipke said he agreed with that view.
Notably, activist Sonam Wangchuk became the face of the movement after beginning an indefinite hunger strike on June 28. He continued the fast for 26 straight days before Delhi Police shifted him to Safdarjung Hospital, and he was later moved to Medanta Hospital.
“I would like to thank the Chief Justice of India. Thank you, sir, for calling us cockroaches, and thank you for waking us up,” he told the media outlet.
What did CJI Kant say?
In May, CJI Kant was hearing a petition along with Justice Joymalya Bagchi. The plea, filed by advocate Sanjay Dubey, sought contempt proceedings over the alleged delay by the Delhi high court in implementing the Supreme Court's guidelines on the designation of senior advocates.
During the hearing, the chief justice criticised what he described as growing and unwarranted attacks on the judiciary and the legal system.
The CJI said, “There are youngsters like cockroaches, who don’t get any employment or have any place in profession. Some of them become media, some of them become social media, RTI activists and other activists and they start attacking everyone.” He further described such people as “parasites of society”.
The remarks went viral. A day later, Dipke announced the launch of the Cockroach Janta Party. Its Instagram following overtook the BJP's within a few days, and the group has since turned into a wider youth-led protest movement.
Don’t support new education minister’s appointment: Dipke
The students' protest concluded after Dharmendra Pradhan resigned as Union education minister, and the government accepted the protesters' remaining demands.
The movement brought thousands of students onto the streets across the country and also received backing from several opposition parties.
Following Pradhan's resignation, Union minister Pralhad Joshi assumed charge of the ministry of education.
Reacting to Joshi's appointment, Dipke said the minister was “seen garlanding the rapists of Bilkis Bano” and added that he does not support his appointment as education minister.
“Our demand was the resignation of the Education Minister, and it was met. But in place of him (Dharmendra Pradhan), who was made the Education Minister? It was Pralhad Joshi. He was seen garlanding the rapists of Bilkis Bano. Imagine how the school-going girls will feel on seeing such things. So, we do not support this,” he told news agency ANI.
He has also alleged that another major demand of the protesters, a compensation of ₹1 crore for the families of NEET aspirants who died by suicide, is yet to be fulfilled.
“I have got to know that the govt has said that it will have to look into the rules & norms for this. When you have to buy MPs/MLAs, you spend crores of rupees, but to give compensation, you need to first check the rules. It means their intention is not right,” he said.
With inputs from agencies