Three Reasons CJP Is Right Not to Form a Political Party, for Now
NB, News Briefings, August 2026 Vishal Arora NB, News Briefings, August 2026 Vishal Arora

Three Reasons CJP Is Right Not to Form a Political Party, for Now

The Cockroach Janta Party has decided, for now, to remain a movement rather than register as a political party, leaving the final word to a leadership meeting set for August 5 and 6 in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar in Maharashtra. The choice admits that a movement’s power can disappear the moment it starts competing for votes instead of making demands from the government.

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5 Forms of Unlawful, Punitive Force Delhi Police May Have Used Against CJP Protesters
NB, News Briefings, July 2026 Vishal Arora NB, News Briefings, July 2026 Vishal Arora

5 Forms of Unlawful, Punitive Force Delhi Police May Have Used Against CJP Protesters

Delhi Police and Rapid Action Force (RAF) personnel used batons and tear gas against thousands of protesters during the Cockroach Janta Party’s (CJP) “Chalo Sansad” march on July 20, leaving scores injured and dozens detained. Eyewitness accounts from journalists covering the protest, including those from Newsreel Asia, and videos circulating on social media point to at least five serious forms of possibly unlawful and punitive force.

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July 20 CJP Protest Defies Government Narrative of Who Dissenters Are
NB, News Briefings, July 2026 Vishal Arora NB, News Briefings, July 2026 Vishal Arora

July 20 CJP Protest Defies Government Narrative of Who Dissenters Are

Tens of thousands of young people converged around Delhi’s Connaught Place area on July 20, responding to a call by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) for its “Chalo Sansad” march towards Parliament. Most of them belonged to no party, community or movement the government could name, and their active participation appeared to shatter its claim that dissent or grievances in India are confined to a few groups that can be conveniently bracketed into Muslims, Christians, communists, left-leaning civil society, farmers and independent journalists.

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CJP’s Ideological Emptiness Is Its Most Effective (and Riskiest) Asset
NB, News Briefings, July 2026 Vishal Arora NB, News Briefings, July 2026 Vishal Arora

CJP’s Ideological Emptiness Is Its Most Effective (and Riskiest) Asset

The Cockroach Janata Party’s protest at Jantar Mantar in Delhi has held together for 19 days because “cockroach” means something different to everyone under the tarpaulins, I found when I visited the site on July 16. My biggest concern now is that what could end this diverse coalition is the deteriorating condition of the fasting man on the mattress on the stage. Let me explain how.

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‘Satluj’ Ban Erases the Line BJP Drew Against Congress in Punjab
NB, News Briefings, July 2026, Featured Commentary Vishal Arora NB, News Briefings, July 2026, Featured Commentary Vishal Arora

‘Satluj’ Ban Erases the Line BJP Drew Against Congress in Punjab

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has spent years accusing the Congress party of grave human rights failures in Punjab during the militancy period. Every reference to the killings, disappearances, and unmarked cremations of the late 1980s and early 1990s has come from BJP platforms as an indictment of Congress rule. The party has positioned itself as the one willing to name events that Congress preferred to leave unspoken. The recent removal of the film “Satluj” from ZEE5 has undone that position.

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Why Kerala CM V.D. Satheesan’s “Menon” Oath Stirred a Caste Debate
NB, News Briefings, May 2026, Featured Commentary Mariya Rajan NB, News Briefings, May 2026, Featured Commentary Mariya Rajan

Why Kerala CM V.D. Satheesan’s “Menon” Oath Stirred a Caste Debate

Kerala Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan took oath as “Vadasseri Damodara Menon Satheesan,” unlike earlier occasions where he had dropped “Menon,” an upper-caste surname. Days later, he went to the Guruvayur Sri Krishna Temple and offered thulabharam (ritual weighing) with butter, a ritual in which a devotee is weighed against an offering made to the deity. Coming within a week of the formation of a Congress government, the two decisions have triggered unease in the state because the party had projected itself as secular and inclusive.

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Editors Guild: Indian Officials’ Clashes With Dutch, Norwegian Journalists ‘Embarrassing’
NB, News Briefings, May 2026 Vishal Arora NB, News Briefings, May 2026 Vishal Arora

Editors Guild: Indian Officials’ Clashes With Dutch, Norwegian Journalists ‘Embarrassing’

The Editors Guild of India has criticised recent stand-offs involving Indian government representatives and journalists from the Netherlands and Norway as “embarrassing,” saying they followed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s refusal to take questions from local media during visits to the two countries.

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‘Careful’: A Gen Z Journalist in Nepal Writes an Open Letter to India’s ‘Cockroach’ Party

‘Careful’: A Gen Z Journalist in Nepal Writes an Open Letter to India’s ‘Cockroach’ Party

How are you doing, “cockroaches”? While you celebrate your success in gaining followers and dominating global headlines, how long can you rely on that? Do you realise you are being dismissed as a mere “meme movement” and a “page-based phenomenon”? This is a label you will likely lament, saying critics always need something to say, and this is simply what they have come up with.

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Indian Youth’s ‘Cockroach’ Party Now the Biggest on Instagram; What’s Their Message?
NB, News Briefings, May 2026 Vishal Arora NB, News Briefings, May 2026 Vishal Arora

Indian Youth’s ‘Cockroach’ Party Now the Biggest on Instagram; What’s Their Message?

A satirical Indian political movement, called the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) and built entirely on internet culture, has gained more than double the Instagram following of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), just days after being founded in response to remarks by the country’s chief justice allegedly comparing unemployed young people to insects. Its rapid rise signals the depth of frustration among a generation burdened by unemployment, exam fraud and what appears to be growing distrust toward institutions.

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The Question Is Not Why Raghav Chadha Left AAP, But Where He Went

The Question Is Not Why Raghav Chadha Left AAP, But Where He Went

Raghav Chadha, a founding member of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and one of its most prominent Rajya Sabha faces, has left the party along with six other MPs from the same party to join the governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The question his departure raises is not whether his stated grievances about AAP’s inner functioning were genuine, but whether those grievances, even taken at face value, explain why he chose to join the BJP.

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The India Thread in the Epstein Files: Everything That’s Been Documented
NB, News Briefings, April 2026 Vishal Arora NB, News Briefings, April 2026 Vishal Arora

The India Thread in the Epstein Files: Everything That’s Been Documented

The documents linked to Jeffrey Epstein, a U.S. financier who built a network of relationships with political leaders, business figures and public personalities, contain several references involving India, including instances of direct contact between Epstein and Indian political and business figures. Here is a clear account of what the Epstein files say about India and how to read those references.

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Fresh Violence in Manipur; Court Hears Case on Ex-CM’s Alleged Role in 2023 Unrest
NB, News Briefings, April 2026 Vishal Arora NB, News Briefings, April 2026 Vishal Arora

Fresh Violence in Manipur; Court Hears Case on Ex-CM’s Alleged Role in 2023 Unrest

The Supreme Court expressed frustration on April 6 over repeated forensic delays in authenticating audio clips that allegedly implicate former Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh in the state’s ethnic violence. Meanwhile, a bomb attack the following day in Manipur’s Bishnupur district killed two children and triggered fresh unrest.

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Why Does the Government Want to Review Journalism Courses?
NB, News Briefings, April 2026 Vishal Arora NB, News Briefings, April 2026 Vishal Arora

Why Does the Government Want to Review Journalism Courses?

The education ministry has reportedly written to all university vice-chancellors, forwarding a suggestion from Prime Minister Narendra Modi that journalism syllabuses be reviewed “to make them more effective.” The ministry offered no specification of what the review should contain or why the current syllabuses fall short. This vagueness, which appears to be deliberate, is concerning.

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Congress Alleges Assam CM’s Wife Holds Foreign Passports, Assets Abroad; CM Denies, Vows Legal Action
NB, News Briefings, April 2026 Vishal Arora NB, News Briefings, April 2026 Vishal Arora

Congress Alleges Assam CM’s Wife Holds Foreign Passports, Assets Abroad; CM Denies, Vows Legal Action

The Congress party has alleged that Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s wife, Riniki Bhuyan Sharma, holds multiple foreign passports and undisclosed overseas assets, triggering a political confrontation with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has rejected the claims and announced legal action.

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‘No One’ Killed This Manipur MLA, and That Defines the State’s Accountability Crisis

‘No One’ Killed This Manipur MLA, and That Defines the State’s Accountability Crisis

Vungzagin Valte, a Manipur MLA from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), died on February 21 after nearly three years of medical complications caused by a mob attack during the 2023 violence. His case remains pending and no arrests have been reported so far. The continuing absence of visible justice may further deepen the political disillusionment of the Kuki-Zo community in its relationship with the state government.

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Supreme Court Raises Alarm Over States’ Free Electricity Push
NB, News Briefings, February 2026 Vishal Arora NB, News Briefings, February 2026 Vishal Arora

Supreme Court Raises Alarm Over States’ Free Electricity Push

The Supreme Court has questioned the Tamil Nadu government’s policy of providing free electricity to certain consumer groups, opening a wider debate about where welfare support ends and political freebie culture begins. The central concern in this dispute is how far governments can expand subsidies without putting public finances and long-term development under strain.

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8,630 Complaints Against Sitting Judges in 10 Years
NB, News Briefings, February 2026 Vishal Arora NB, News Briefings, February 2026 Vishal Arora

8,630 Complaints Against Sitting Judges in 10 Years

On February 13, the Union Law Ministry told the Lok Sabha that the office of the Chief Justice of India received 8,360 complaints against sitting judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts across the 10 year period from 2016 to 2025, based on data supplied by the Supreme Court. The disclosure invites a closer look at how judicial accountability works, and what this information reveals about public trust in the courts.

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Opposition Threatens Speaker with No-Confidence Motion, Citing Partisan Conduct
NB, News Briefings, February 2026 Vishal Arora NB, News Briefings, February 2026 Vishal Arora

Opposition Threatens Speaker with No-Confidence Motion, Citing Partisan Conduct

Opposition parties in Lok Sabha have warned they may file a no-confidence motion against Speaker Om Birla, accusing him of obstructing the parliamentary rights of Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi. The standoff, now entering a second week, centres on Gandhi being denied permission to speak about a controversial unpublished book by former army chief Manoj Naravane, while members of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were permitted to make attacks against the Nehru-Gandhi family without censure.

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