The last fortnight has unlocked previously suppressed discontent against the political elite against unemployment and freedom of speech, symbolized through the satirical Cockroach Janta Party. The wave of support for this party has been unprecedented, with its handles gaining more followers than those of the Congress and the BJP within days.
Though the government has tried to suppress this movement by blocking its social media handles, the event has shown how a slip of tongue can unleash suppressed anger and discontent amongst the youth dealing with unemployment and the rising cost of living.
Though many are hoping that the party’s founder, Abhijeet Dipke, would eventually register this as a proper political party, this isn’t the first time when public discontent has spilled into a new political movement, and changed the course of history as a result. Here’s how such movements have fared historically.
The Aam Aadmi Party: From a sensational anti corruption movement to a mainstreamed party
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) was born out of the India Against Corruption (IAC) movement active between 2010-12. This was in response to the public anger following a spate of multi billion dollar corruption scandals under the Congress-led UPA government. Under the leadership of Anna Hazare, the IAC mobilized millions of Indians, through online mediums as protests erupted throughout the country. The IAC insisted on the enactment of the Jan Lokpal Bill, aimed at establishing an independent body to hold public officials accountable.
In late 2012, Anna Hazare’s aides established the Aam Aadmi Party under the leadership of Arvind Kejriwal. The AAP introduced a fresh perspective on politics, implementing new ideas and campaigns that helped it win the 2015 Delhi Assembly Elections for two successive terms besides winning the 2022 Punjab Assembly Elections.
South Africa’s African National Congress: The Anti Apartheid movement to the first non-racial democratic government
The African National Congress (ANC) had been spearheading resistance against the discriminatory policies of the White minority led South African government since 1912. After various protests against the apartheid regime, the ANC was banned in 1960 forcing its leadership into exile. Despite that, it maintained its strategic narratives, while trying to overthrow the South African government’s apartheid policies.
After Nelson Mandela’s release from prison, the ANC fought and won elections for a democratic all inclusive government in South Africa- consisting of White Afrikaners, Blacks and Indians. Nelson Mandela became President, with the ANC remaining central in South Africa’s political landscape for a long time.
Bolivia’s Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS): Moving toward socialism and inclusive growth
In this South American country, the MAS movement gathered steam in the 1990s, where indigenous peoples rose up against socioeconomic exclusion and resource control disputes at the hands of European settlers.
The MAS grew from indigenous, labour and social movements against the ruling elite, eventually leading to organizing massive highway blockades and general strikes fueled by growing discontent against commercialisation of their land, and the promotion of large landholdings by foreign private players.
Leveraging electoral reforms and growing discontent, the MAS forced the resignation of the then neoliberal leadership of Bolivia and won a historic majority in 2005 with the nation’s first indigenous president.
The Philippines’ EDSA Revolution: Uprooting embedded military corruption
In February 1986, the People Power Revolution (also known as the EDSA Revolution) in the Phillipines mobilized the masses to overthrow then military dictator Ferdinand Marcos, who had institutionalised a highly corrupt patronage system within the Armed Forces of the Philippines AFP) to ensure military loyalty.
Following massive cheating during the snap presidential election of February 7, 1986, the country entered into a state of intense civil resistance that led to the EDSA mobilizing almost 2 million to protest the government. Finally, Ferdinand Marcos fled the country, and the EDSA revolution helped restore democratic institutions with the Philippine Republic.
