NEW DELHI: Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke on Tuesday thanked the organisers of a Ramlila in Delhi for "free publicity" after a 30-foot cockroach effigy was burnt alongside that of demon king Ravan.
The event organisers, however, said the cockroach effigy symbolises filth and seeks to promote cleanliness under the Swachh Bharat and Swachh Delhi campaigns.
"Thank you for the free publicity," Dipke said on X, sharing a post about the cockroach effigy.
CJP legal head Ratna Singh also reacted to the development on X, describing it as "tamasha".
In another post, she said it shows that the CJP has "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 said.
The 30-ft cockroach effigy was burnt alongside that of Ravan, his brother Kumbhkaran and son Meghnad at the DDA ground in Netaji Subhash Place in Pitampura this evening. The event organised by the Shri Keshav Ram Leela Committee drew a large crowd.
Committee president and BJP MLA from Model Town Ashok Goel Devaraha said the giant cockroach symbolises filth and unhygienic surroundings, and seeks to raise awareness about the associated health problems like allergies and asthma.
He said the committee burns an additional effigy representing a social problem alongside the traditional effigies every year.
He said the committee had previously burnt symbolic effigies representing issues such as COVID-19, Naxalism and foreign goods.
The effigy has drawn attention as the national capital has seen protests led by the CJP this year.
The group's protest against the NEET paper leak culminated in the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan as Union education minister in July. Over the past two weeks, the CJP has been leading demonstrations against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, demanding his resignation over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.
The cockroach effigy also prompted many on social media to raise questions of propriety, alleging that contemporary political developments were being mixed with tradition.