CJP's 'democratic' faction emerges months after Jantar Mantar success: 'Became Team Kejriwal'

Just months after political satirical outfit Cockroach Janta Party emerged, took the internet by storm and led a nation-wide movement that made Dharmendra Pradhan resign as education minister, another faction of the outfit called ‘Cockroach Janta Party - Democratic’ has emerged.'Cockroach Janta Party-Democratic' is founded by Manish Brahmbhatt, whom several reports identified as an activist. (X)The faction is founded by Manish Brahmbhatt, whom several reports identified as an activist. He has leveled several allegations against the CJP, including that after the success of Jantar Mantar protest, the outfit was "sold out and politicised".“It has now become 'Team Kejriwal',” Bhahmbhatt said, as quoted by news agency ANI.Why Manish Bhahmbhatt founded CJP-Democratic?One of the main reasons cited by Bhahmbhatt for starting CJP-Democratic, which identifies as a faction of the original political satirical outfit CJP, is how the new team of the outfit was selected last month.Instead of taking the political route, CJP announced that it will work as a pressure group and is currently working on its nationwide ‘School Thik Karo’ campaign.However, according to Brahmbhatt, no volunteers were consulted before the selection of the committee. He also alleged that the people who were included in the new wider team of the CJP were associated with the Aam Aadmi Party.“It has now become 'Team Kejriwal' because Abhijit Dipke and the others formed a 12-member team while sitting in the comfort of their homes,” he said.“After the movement's success, not a single volunteer or protester was invited or consulted for their opinion. Nor were the people connected via social media or Instagram asked about the necessary criteria; instead, they formed the team by including eight people associated with the Aam Aadmi Party, along with a female friend and college friends,” he added.Brahmbhatt alleged that they wanted CJP's new committee to be a national team with five people from every state which would include protesters and volunteers from respective regions.He added they had suggested that the team selection should not be done by a “high command” or a “an arbitrary authority figure” but that was not taken into consideration.“However, they rejected this wish and formed the team in an arbitrary manner. The idea behind forming this team also originated with Arvind Kejriwal, as he has been deceitful from the very beginning,” he alleged.Abhijeet Dipke is the national convenor of the CJP while Saurav Das and Ashutosh Rana are co-conveners and Aafreen Nawaz is national secretary.