Committee president Ashok Goel Devaraha, a BJP MLA from Model Town, said the cockroach represented filth and unhygienic surroundings. He said the initiative aimed to raise awareness about related health problems, including allergies and asthma.
NEW DELHI: A 30-foot cockroach effigy was burnt alongside those of Ravan, Kumbhkaran and Meghnad during Dussehra celebrations at Netaji Subhash Place in Delhi on Tuesday. The move drew sharp reactions from Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) leaders and sparking a debate on social media.
While the organisers said the effigy symbolised filth and promoted cleanliness, CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke shared a snippet from the film Swades, featuring the lyrics "mann se raavan jo nikaale, ram uske mann mei hai (One who casts Ravana out through contemplation, Ram dwells there)."
In a separate post he also thanked them for the "free publicity".
"Thank you for the free publicity," Dipke said on X, sharing a post about the effigy.CJP legal head Ratna Singh described the development as "tamasha" as she wrote, "Tamasha kara lo bas is desh mein (Just let this country turn everything into a spectacle.)"
In another post, she said the incident showed that the CJP had "done something right"."Burning a cockroach effigy on Dussehra only shows how rattled the ruling party is... Good to know we are making enough of an impact for you to see us as competition," she said.
"Clearly, we are doing something right. Give your IT cell some time off as well. You must be tired after all this (useless) hard work," Singh added.
Why was the cockroach effigy burnt?
The 30-foot effigy was burnt at the DDA ground in Netaji Subhash Place, Pitampura, alongside those of Ravan, his brother Kumbhkaran and son Meghnad. The event, organised by the Shri Keshav Ram Leela Committee, drew a large crowd.Committee president Ashok Goel Devaraha, a BJP MLA from Model Town, said the cockroach represented filth and unhygienic surroundings.
He said the initiative aimed to raise awareness about related health problems, including allergies and asthma.The committee said the effigy was part of its efforts to promote cleanliness under the Swachh Bharat and Swachh Delhi campaigns. Devaraha said it burns an additional effigy representing a social problem every year, citing previous examples linked to COVID-19, Naxalism and foreign goods.
Reacting to an AAP complaint about the effigy, Delhi minister Kapil Mishra said, "The effigy being burnt is that of a cockroach, yet it is the 'termites'—the political termites of this nation—who are feeling the pain."
He further added, "The public has its own unique 'pesticide' to deal with them. A cockroach is a symbol of filth and chaos. The people want such effigies to be burnt; just as anti-national forces emerge, their defeat in India is inevitable."