New Delhi: Close on the heels of CJI Surya Kant’s cockroach reference leading to the formation of the Cockroach Janta Party, PM Narendra Modi’s allusion to ‘Dimagi Naxal’ in his Independence Day speech prompted another outfit, the Dimagi Naxal Janta Party, to announce its arrival on Sunday, August 16.
The Dimagi Naxal Janta Party (DNJP), on its website, explains, “In his 80th Independence Day address from the Red Fort, PM Narendra Modi said armed Naxalism was nearing its end but warned of a ‘dimagi naxal’ mindset — people who hadn’t picked up weapons but still needed to be ‘identified and isolated’.”
In response to the PM’s comment, senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram called himself a proud ‘dimagi Naxal’ and actor Prakash Raj reached out to the youth, saying, ‘Dimagi bano, bewakoof nahin.’
The DNJP also talks about Chidambaram and Prakash Raj, even throwing in senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh’s comment for good measure. Ramesh reportedly mentioned how the government had earlier coined ‘urban Naxal’, adding that it tends to adopt the very ideas it first dismisses this way.
Meanwhile, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju explained that the barb wasn’t aimed at the Opposition, even giving a short list of who qualifies for the term.
The website goes on to say that it “took shape right after Cockroach Janta Party’s Saurav Das pushed back publicly, arguing that questioning young people don’t deserve to be branded this way.” It appeared first on X and then on Instagram. At the time of writing this, the DNJP had 2.41 lakh followers on Instagram.
‘Reunite around the question mark’
Reminding us how the tag of “anti-national” has been bandied about quite casually, the outfit says it is betting on “the people who actually think for themselves are scattered across every one of those parties — and a label meant to isolate them is exactly what could bring them back together.”
It says there is no official symbol, and no membership fee; the only cost of joining though, “is a functioning brain and a willingness to ask, ‘wait, why though’ out loud”.
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