CJP effect? Reservation Hatao has 5.6 mn followers. Copycat campaigns rise
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
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. Read Full Story 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 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.
The BriefWire