Would CJP get votes if it contested polls today? What Mood of the Nation says

The Cockroach Janta Party has chosen to remain a pressure group after emerging from the NEET leak protest. The Mood of the Nation survey shows more respondents backed that course than wanted it to enter electoral politics.From left to right, CJP leaders Saurav Das, Abhijeet Dipke, and Ashutosh Ranka (File photo: ITG)The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), which stamped its presence with the Gen Z protest at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar over the NEET paper leak, may have made waves, but translating that buzz into votes could prove a much harder task if it formed a political party today, the latest Mood of the Nation (MOTN) survey suggests.As per the survey, 43% of respondents said they would not vote for the CJP if it had formed a political party. In comparison, 33% said they would vote for it, while 24% were unsure whether they would support the party.The findings come as the CJP has chosen to remain a pressure group instead of entering electoral politics. The decision appears to have found greater support among respondents, with 39% welcoming the move. Meanwhile, 26% said the CJP should have formed a political party, while 34% said they were unsure about the decision. The figures point to a gap between the CJP’s ability to generate attention through protests and its potential to translate that visibility into votes.The Mood of the Nation is a bi-annual survey that's been commissioned by the India Today Group for around two decades now. The August 2026 edition was conducted by CVoter with a sample of 25,184 people directly surveyed between July 1 and August 25. Another set of 91,795 interviews conducted over the last six months as part of CVoter's regular tracking was also used to formulate the findings of the August Mood of the Nation 2026.WANT TO WORK AS A PRESSURE GROUP ONLY, SAYS PARTY REPRESENTATIVE Talking about the survey findings, Vijay Mallangi, CJP’s media and South zonal head, said the organisation understands and prioritises its goal of working as a pressure group rather than entering the country’s electoral colosseum."We are getting more acceptance as a pressure group, and that is the reason we want to work as a pressure group further, says Mallangi in an India Today Television interview. He further said that young people in the country carry a certain “stigma” towards political parties and that the CJP does not want to inherit that stigma.After the Jantar Mantar protest, the CJP is now leading its School Thik Karo programme, an initiative that seeks to improve the educational conditions of schools across the country. The party also called for a protest march from India Gate to the headquarters of Delhi Police on September 5 over the alleged betrayal of the government to Gen Z.- EndsPublished By: Akash ChatterjeePublished On: Aug 27, 2026 19:01 IST