The “meme-first” approach of Gen Z activism

Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) activists continues dharna protest seeking resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over alleged examination irregularities and NEET paper leak, at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on Thursday | Photo Credit: SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR

The ongoing youth movement led by the Cockroach Janta Party’s “ meme-first” approach leveraging visual platforms such as Instagram is playing a key role in gaining traction among Gen Z. Followers of the movement have been sharing their experiences and opinions often through reels and short videos posted especially on platforms such as Instagram.

After posting its first Instagram post on May 17, CJP garnered nearly 3 million followers within the first 78 hours. As of Thursday its follower account has swelled to now has as much as 25.6 million followers on the platform garnering strong engagement and views.

Founded by Abhijeet Dipke as a satirical joke, post the remarks made by the Chief Justice of India, CPJ’s Instagram account has more followers than BJP and Congress on the platform.

different approach

Observers and experts believe this radical different approach compared with traditional political campaigns is playing a key role in the movement resonating with Gen Z. It perhaps also indicates that as Gen Z comes of age, political discourse is expected to play out even more on visual storytelling-led platforms such as Instagram.

“The current movement owes its origins to digital natives who have played off the CJI’s remark to create an identity for themselves through the Cockroach Janata Party. This is radically different form traditional political campaigns or even the IAC movement in 2011. Using the cockroach meme, they have been able to reach out to young audiences who saw the irony and self-deprecating humour and joined the bandwagon. A bit similar to what was seen in the US with the take-off of the term “deplorables” in 2016 US Presidential Election,” said Lloyd Mathias, Independent Director and Business Strategist.

“As digital natives they have mastered the ‘meme-first’ politics with their followers sharing visuals, banners, memes, reels and comments laced with humour and satire, which resonate well on platforms like Instagram. This is very unlike traditional political parties which are all about staid speeches, slogans and amplifying leaders’ voices,” he added.

Mathias pointed out that it is an “ internet-first movement” . “ Activism has usually been seen as a serious business. Gen Z is resonating with the irony, sarcasm, and visual storytelling approach. This is more of a an “internet-first movement”,” he noted.

Published on July 23, 2026