The Congress party has, in the past few months, vehemently supported the youth movement without acknowledging its mobilising force, the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP). It has planned parallel campaigns, public meetings, and protests, running its own show and representing the grievances of the youth in its own way. However, there was a minor confrontation recently when both the Congress and the non-political CJP came face to face, giving air to a growing tussle between the two.
CJP leaders believe that the Congress ecosystem, including some social media accounts that promote Congress interests on X (formerly Twitter), has been targeting the CJP and its leader Abhijeet Dipke. The other two co-founders of the party, Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das, without naming the Congress, targeted what they called the “liberal ecosystem”, saying it was unable to capture the imagination of millions.
Soon after, the divide became more obvious when the Congress spokesperson in Assam, Reetam Singh, claimed that Ashutosh Ranka, co-convenor of the CJP, had refused to meet Congress leaders during his Assam visit. He alleged that this was because the outreach was an initiative of the Aam Aadmi Party.
However, a Congress leader close to Mallikarjun Kharge said, “We won’t go by the judgement of a spokesperson, and we won’t even want to talk about it.” There is an understanding between both sides that whoever is standing against the BJP has a common goal and should work together. That common goal is to protect Indian democracy and make those responsible for irregularities accountable for their actions.
However, according to political observers, the strategy of maintaining distance from each other is itself strategic. The Congress has been trying to reclaim itself as a party that has brought change and will bring change under its leadership, while projecting itself as the only party capable of defeating the BJP. CJP leaders, meanwhile, believe that any association with the politics of the day could undermine their legitimacy among people who see the party as standing with people's grievances without seeking political benefit from them.
Congress leaders understand that the opposition campaign against the BJP, which had never stopped in the past, had been unable to find roots among the people, making its outreach largely inconsequential. This, however, changed after the mass mobilisation led by the CJP protests. Even while maintaining their distance, both sides are indirectly supporting each other. The Congress is backing the youth movement against the BJP without acknowledging the CJP, while CJP leaders have tweeted in support of Congress leaders standing against the BJP ecosystem.
When Rahul Gandhi was forcibly taken away from the protest outside the Election Commission of India, Ranka and Das both trained their guns on the BJP, calling the treatment of the Leader of the Opposition unfortunate.
