Even as the ‘Cockroach Janta Party’ (CJP) wave is yet to settle, another similar satirical social media outfit has emerged — the ‘E20 Janta Party’ – seemingly targeting Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari’s Ethanol-blended petrol initiative that has drawn mixed reactions in the country.
Delhi’s Jantar Mantar became the national talk amid the youth-led CJP protest over the last few days with the ‘party’, that emerged as a social media-led satirical outfit floated by a Boston University graduate named Abhijeet Dipke and turned into a mega movement, forcing education minister Dharmendra Pradhan to resign from the post over exam irregularities.
With curtains drawing on the massive CJP protest, social media pages of ‘E20 Janta Party’ are getting noticed and followed by many, despite the identity of its founder not being known yet.
E20 fuel is a blend of 20 per cent ethanol and 80 per cent petrol, promoted to cut crude oil imports, lower vehicle emissions, and support farmers. It is criticised due to vehicle damage risks in older models, lower fuel efficiency, and high water usage for crop production.
‘E20 Janta Party’ emerges on social media
An X account named ‘E20 Janta Party’ dates back to May 2024, indicating that the name previously was different and has been changed only recently to tap on the current social media trend of addressing issues through satire — as the CJP did.
The ‘E20 Janta Party’ named account on X, one of the many with similar names gaining traction lately, reportedly started getting attention on the weekend and gained more than 25,000 followers on X in a few hours Sunday. It had over 48,000 followers on Monday morning. E20 Janta Party crossed ,100,000 followers on Instagram on Sunday.
Amid growing followers, the outfit said it was not seeking subsidies, free fuel or withdrawal of ethanol-blended petrol, but only demanding that consumers be given the choice to buy the fuel they want.
In one of its recent posts, the outfit said “E20 Janta Party is not a political party.”
“We are an independent citizens’ movement focused on raising issues that affect the common people. Our only agenda is to ensure transparency, protect consumer rights, and encourage an open public discussion on the real impact of India’s E20 (20% Ethanol Blended Petrol) policy,” the post shared shortly after midnight on Monday read.
“We do not support or endorse any political party. Our support is for the people not for any political ideology,” it said, adding, “Please don’t get distracted by rumors about who is behind this movement or where it is being operated from. Such speculation only takes attention away from the real issue.”
“Our demand is simple: accountability, transparency, and the right of consumers to be heard,” the post read.
Another post called for the resignation of Nitin Gadkari. “Nitin Gadkari ji must Resign!”
Another account by the same name, with around 28,000 followers, announced a Parliament March on August 4, saying that taxi, tourist, and commercial vehicle owners from across India will march to Parliament to protest against E20 ethanol-blended petrol and the mandatory installation of expensive GPS and panic button systems.
Under the leadership of Sanjay Samrat, thousands of drivers and vehicle owners will gather to demand action from the government, it said.
The impact the call for August 4 march is expected to have and whether people take these outfits targeting government’s E20 fuel initiative seriously as they did the CJP are questions yet to get clear answers.
Cockroach Janta Party’s rise
The CJP became an overnight sensation in May after remarks attributed to Chief Justice of India Surya Kant comparing certain unemployed youth and social media activists to “cockroaches” and “parasites” during a court hearing.
Turning the remarks that many youngsters described as an insult into a badge of honour, Boston University-graduate Abhijeet Dipke created its website and social media accounts a day after the CJI’s remarks on May 15. Within days its Instagram page had amassed more than millions of followers, far surpassing the followers of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on the platform.
The outfit went on to draw millions of supporters online, prompting Dipke to return to India and hold multi-city demonstration, on the last day of which — June 20 — he announced a sit-in at Jantar Mantar, saying that it would end only with the resignation of education minister Dharmendra Pradhan over recurring exam irregularities.
The protest intensified last weekend after Sonam Wangchuk was allegedly “forcibly” removed from the protest site and admitted to Safdarjung Hospital by authorities amid deteriorating health condition.
On Monday, July 20, scores turned up at Jantar Mantar and areas around on CJP’s call for march to Parliament as Monsoon Session kicked off there with PM Modi’s customary address in which he said facts and logic leave no room for “disruption”.
After six days of intense agitation and intermittent tensions with the security lies, the protest came to an end on Saturday, July 25, with the announcement of resignation by Dharmendra Pradhan as education minister.
