Cockroach Janta Party's Lucknow protest a massive dud! Only 0.007% of its 23 million followers at Eco Garden

The Cockroach Janta Party-led student protest at Lucknow's Eco Garden saw a lower turnout than expected on Friday, with senior officials saying around 1,500 protesters reached the venue against intelligence inputs that nearly 10,000 people from different districts could arrive. The protest was held over alleged examination irregularities, including question paper leaks, and police deployed around 1,500 personnel, including Provincial Armed Constabulary personnel, in and around the site.

According to officials, preparations were underway for the past three days, and information was shared with district administrations and police units across the state for monitoring and preventive action. Despite the higher estimate, officials said only around 1,500 protesters reached the venue. 

This was not only lower than what the officials expected but also in comparison to the political front's followers on its social media platform. The party commands a following of 22.6 million on Instagram and over 277,000 followers on X.

This implies that only around 0.007% of the nearly 23 million social media followers turned up at the Lucknow protest. Roughly 1 out of every 15,251 followers attended the Lucknow protest, and 99.993% of its online followers didn't show up at the protest. 

Scenes from the CJP protest in Lucknow

About the protest

Students and government job aspirants gathered at the venue, raising slogans and demanding an investigation into the alleged irregularities and re-examinations where needed. Some guardians and elders also joined them. Cockroach Janata Party founder Abhijeet Dipke and All India Students’ Association national president Neha were present at the protest.

Dipke, who stayed at the protest site for around 20 minutes, told Hindustan Times, “We will continue the protest until the education minister resigns. I only want to appeal to the students to continue peaceful protest and join the mass mobilisation at Jantar Mantar on June 20.”

Protesters demanded a permanent dialogue and grievance redressal mechanism for competitive examination aspirants. Students further alleged that authorities in Prayagraj had shut three coaching centres, officially citing building safety norms, though they believed the move was linked to suspicion that the centres were supporting the youth movement.