Cockroach Party Surpasses BJP in Instagram Follower Count in Four Days

Cockroach Janta Party Surges to 9 Million Followers on Instagram, Overtaking BJP

A satirical online campaign calling itself the Cockroach Janta Party has rapidly emerged as one of India's biggest political phenomena on Instagram, crossing 9 million followers within days of its launch and overtaking the official Instagram presence of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The account, operating under the handle @cockroachjantaparty, crossed the 9 million mark on May 20, according to figures visible on the platform. This significant milestone surpasses the BJP's official Instagram handle @bjp4india, which currently has around 8.7 million followers, while the Congress account @incindia stands at roughly 13.2 million followers. The Aam Aadmi Party Instagram account has around 1.9 million followers.

The campaign first surfaced on May 16 as a youth-driven satirical movement responding to remarks allegedly made by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant during a court hearing. A day later, its Instagram account was launched after the movement had already started gaining traction on X.

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Describing itself as "A political front of the youth, by the youth, for the youth," the platform has focused heavily on issues such as unemployment, political accountability, and paper leak controversies, themes that appear to have resonated strongly with younger social media users. The account witnessed explosive growth shortly after launch, reportedly crossing 3 million Instagram followers within just 78 hours before climbing past 9 million within four days.

Despite having only 56 posts so far, the account has managed to surpass several established political organisations in follower count. In contrast, the BJP's Instagram page has shared over 18,000 posts to date.

The page also celebrated overtaking the BJP on Instagram with a pointed message aimed at political establishments. "Don't underestimate the power of youth," the account posted while marking the milestone. In another post, the page appeared to mock the BJP's organisational strength, writing, "World's largest party they said," after crossing the ruling party's Instagram following.

The movement has also expanded rapidly on other platforms. On X, where the satirical campaign initially began as a joke, the account has crossed 165.5K followers as of May 21.

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The BJP, founded in 1980, remains the world's largest political party by primary membership, with over 140 million members globally. It currently leads the National Democratic Alliance government at the Centre under PM Modi for a third consecutive term.