New Delhi: The newly emerged satirical digital movement, the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), has escalated its offensive against Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan by launching a formal online petition demanding his immediate resignation. Founded by digital communications strategist Abhijeet Dipke, the parody political group initiated the campaign via a viral video appeal that directly addresses systemic vulnerabilities within India’s national examination framework following the high-profile cancellation of the NEET-UG medical entrance exam.
In his social media address, Dipke characterized the recent exam disruptions as a monumental institutional failure that jeopardizes the academic future of over 2.2 million medical aspirants across the country. Titled “Petition to Sack the Education Minister,” the movement’s manifesto urges citizens and student bodies to mobilize online and apply public pressure to hold leadership accountable for recurring question paper leaks. The digital campaign achieved immense momentum within hours of its release, driving massive user engagement and expanding the CJP’s Instagram following past the 19 million mark, outstripping the digital follower counts of several established mainstream political parties.
The severe backlash stems from the cancellation of the nationwide NEET-UG entrance test initially conducted on May 3, which was subsequently scrapped by authorities within 48 hours due to credible evidence of a widespread paper leak. The resulting chaos triggered countrywide protests by student federations, multiple legal challenges in the apex court, and an official Central Bureau of Investigation probe. Concurrently, the campaign itself has drawn regulatory scrutiny, as the Central Government directed social media platforms to withhold the official X handle of the group on grounds of national security under Section 69(A) of the Information Technology Act. Neither the Ministry of Education nor the National Testing Agency has issued a formal statement in response to the viral petition.
