Odisha Literary Festival 2026: Opinions differ on CJP's political links

BHUBANESWAR: The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) movement was apolitical, said senior journalist and former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Ashutosh at the Odisha Literary Festival here on Saturday. Attending a session on 'Ideology vs Skepticism: What do Young People Believe', moderated by journalist and author Ravi Shankar, Ashutosh reckoned that AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal, who had publicly backed the movement, was not the face of the CJP. He, however, acknowledged that some CJP members had past affiliations with AAP. 'Usually, youths take the words of politicians with a pinch of salt, but they have complete faith in the judiciary. They were agitated after Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant's cockroach remark. The movement then significantly escalated due to the frustration of youths over NEET paper leak and unemployment,' he said. Ashutosh further said the CJP protest was different from social activist Anna Hazare's anti-corruption movement. CJP protest was more direct and focused on confronting the government for specific resignations and demands, whereas Hazare aimed for broader systemic change, he said. Editor of RSS mouthpiece 'Organiser' Prafulla Ketkar, however, said the CJI had clarified that his cockroach and parasite remarks were misquoted and directed at people holding fake degrees rather than the nation's youths.