Despite its humorous origins, the CJP quickly became a lightning rod for disaffected young people in India, where there is high youth unemployment.
Despite its name, it’s not a party. The movement is led by Abhijeet Dipke, a 30-year-old political communications strategist and former student at Boston University.
He told the BBC it started as a joke. “I thought we should all come together, maybe just start a platform.”
But after offering the option to sign up to the movement through a Google form, he received tens of thousands of responses.
This propelled it forward into becoming a serious protest group, and on 9 July it announced a march to parliament to take place on 20 July. Thousands turned out in Delhi. Hundreds also attended protests and candle-lit vigils in other cities such as Mumbai, Bengaluru and Goa.
The protest took on added significance because of the treatment of Sonam Wangchuk, a well-known engineer and activist.
He went on hunger strike on 28 June in support of the CJP at Jantar Mantar, a 300-year-old observatory in central Delhi, which is often the site of protests.
On Saturday, the 59-year-old was forcibly taken to hospital, prompting outrage from CJP supporters and drawing further attention to the protest movement. He has continued fasting in hospital.
