When Abhijeet Dipke founded the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) just a little over two months ago, who would have imagined that it would galvanise India’s Gen Z on the issue of education and force the resignation of a Union Minister? The CJP showed that if the cause is genuine, satire can also become a powerful political tool. Now, following the CJP’s footsteps, several copycat issue-based campaigns have mushroomed online. And they are growing rapidly, by the minute literally.
Not all, however, promote specific social causes. Some are satirical, like the Daaru Janta Party and Kabootar Janta Party. Then, there are serious movements as well, like the E20 Janta Party, which seeks to tap into the growing frustration over ethanol-blended petrol. However, the largest among them, if measured by the Instagram-o-meter, is Reservation Hatao Andolan (RHA).
WHAT IS THE RESERVATION HATAO ANDOLAN?
As the name suggests, its demand is the removal of caste-based reservations and the caste census. As the CJP-led student protests raged across the country last week, the Reservation Hatao Andolan quietly was gaining popularity online. Presently, it has over 5.6 million followers on Instagram, miles ahead of even parties like Trinamool Congress and Samajwadi Party. On X, it has over 17,000 followers.
By contrast, the BJP has 9.6 million followers. The Congress has 14.9 million. Earlier this year, Dipke’s CJP did the unthinkable by crossing 20 million Instagram followers – surpassing every established political party on the platform.
Now, riding on the wave of the CJP’s success, the Reservation Hatao Andolan has taken up the cudgels to do away with caste-based discrimination and ensure equal treatment for all citizens. The account, which has over 120 posts, follows only one account – that of the Indian Army.
“Backed by citizens discarded by reservation politics, driven by merit,” reads its Insta bio. It also mentions a couple of lines of famous poet Dinkar. Its rough English translation reads:
“Honour is won through virtue and self-discipline. Only cowards and the cruel make constant noise about caste.”
Interestingly, despite seeking an end to caste-based reservation, the RHA uses BR Ambedkar’s famous slogan “Educate, Agitate, Organise”. Its motto, as seen on its logo, is “Equality, Merit, Justice”.
Ambedkar, the architect of the Constitution, had used the slogan at the All India Depressed Classes Conference in 1942 in Nagpur to call for a mass movement that was needed to upend caste oppression.
It is presently not known who is behind the Reservation Hatao Andolan. It describes itself as a citizen-led movement with no political affiliation.
“We are not aligned with any political party… We once believed that a change in government might bring major reforms to the reservation system. The BJP failed to do so,” the RHA says in one of its posts.
In another post, the RHA said it advocated reservation for only four categories – to the specially abled, to every orphan, to the child of a martyr who died for the country, to every poor person on an economic basis, regardless of their religion and caste.
Presently, reservation is capped at 50%, even though there have been demands by several parties to increase it.
The movement underlined that the government should stop recognising identity based on castes. “No one should be identified as Brahmin, Jaat, Gurjar, SC, ST,” one of its representatives says in a video.
A key demand of the outfit is that citizens should not have to declare their caste in government forms or during any educational or employment applications.
It said its long-term goal was “One Nation. One Identity”. “Our conclusion is simple: this issue cannot be reduced to party politics,” one of its posts said.
OTHER CAMPAIGNS MUSHROOM
Inspired by it, several campaigns against reservations have emerged. You have a General Janta Party as well as an Anti-Reservation Janta Party.
There are others too, which argue that not reservation, but casteism, is the root problem. For the Casteism Hatao Movement, which has over 200k followers, eliminating caste discrimination is its priority.
“Reservation exists because casteism exists. So it’s our duty to end casteism. Justice begins where caste ends,” its Instagram bio reads.
Apart from exam paper leaks, another issue that has dominated headlines in recent weeks is the government’s push for E20 petrol. At the centre of the backlash has been Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, with several owners of petrol vehicles flagging worsening fuel efficiency and increased wear and tear.
To advocate their cause, you now have the E20 Janta Party. It has been gradually gaining traction, amassing nearly 2,80,000 followers on Instagram.
The movement has demanded that the government provide consumers with the option to purchase 100% unblended petrol alongside E20 fuel. Last week, Gadkari said that those wishing to use pure unblended petrol would have to shell out more. You can
There is a reason why the Cockroach Janta Party was able to draw not only Gen Z, but people from all strata of society. It tapped into public anger that had been lurking beneath the surface over alleged irregularities in the education system. This is why the CJP’s message travelled far beyond social media.
Will the other issue-based online campaigns like the Reservation Hatao Andolan also manage to create an impact, or will they fizzle out? Only time will tell.
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