New Delhi: The 30-foot cockroach effigy promised by the Shri Keshav Ramlila Committee in Pitampura looks nothing like a cockroach. Instead, it looks like a man being attacked by the pest.
The bright pink effigy has crooked eyebrows, a walrus moustache, a bright red mouth, a yellow nose and wild, red eyes. The mouth is a bright red blob with silver teeth. And a black, still-unfinished cockroach with six legs is climbing up his chest.
“This cockroach is climbing on top of their president,” Savej Khan, the woodwork artist making the effigy, explained. “Some people have made effigies which look exactly like cockroaches, but we wanted to do something different. This is their adhyaksh (leader).”
The Shri Keshav Ramlila Committee’s Vijayadashami event at Pitampura’s Netaji Subhash Place has made headlines for its unique 30-foot-tall cockroach effigy, which will accompany Ravana, Kumbhakarna and Meghnad. As protests led by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), a youth-led, unregistered satirical political movement, spread across the country, the cockroach symbolism is loaded with political meaning. The event’s organiser and BJP MLA from Model Town, Ashok Goel, is careful with his words. He denies that the fourth effigy has any political significance.
“What is a Cockroach Janta Party? They are not even a registered political party. Why would we give it so much importance?” Goel said. “The burning of the effigies at every Vijayadashami is a symbol of truth over falsehood, the victory of righteousness over unrighteousness. That is why we chose a cockroach. It is the symbol of filth – whether it is social filth, political filth, or filth of any other kind.”
Goel brought up the party unprompted, and the choice of the insect seems pointedly directed at the current atmosphere.
The CJP was founded on 16 May 2026 by Abhijeet Dipke, a former Aam Aadmi Party communications strategist, after Chief Justice of India Surya Kant was reported to have compared unemployed youth to “cockroaches” and “parasites of society”. The name is a parody of the BJP. It is not officially registered as a political party with the Election Commission.
Goel said he had been organising the Ramlila at the same venue for 15 years. He said that the fourth effigy was an annual tradition. In the past, there had been effigies representing terrorism, Naxalism and other themes.
This year’s fourth effigy is a cockroach, appearing in the same month that a movement invoking the insect began drawing protesters to Jantar Mantar.
The making of the cockroach
Behind the food stalls, swings, exhibits, games and strings of lights, the effigies are being finished inside a black tent filled with bamboo frames, coloured paper and bundles of handmade crackers.
Savej Khan and his cousin, Aamir Khan, are from Meerut and run a family firm that has made effigies for generations, with teams working at Ramlilas across Delhi and in other states. They say they have made the effigies for this Ramlila for 16 years.
Savej is more direct about what the cockroach effigy stands for.
“This cockroach is climbing on top of their president,” Savej said, pointing at the pink man’s chest, where the black, oval-shaped insect is making steady progress. “This is their adhyaksh.”
His vague description points to the man leading the “cockroaches” – a name synonymous with the student protesters.
The man with the crooked eyebrows, in other words, is not a generic symbol of filth. He is the leader of the cockroaches, and the filth is taking over.
Savej is not worried that the cockroach does not yet look like one. The crown is still to come, he said, along with horns and the long, curling feelers the insect is known for. The legs will be enlarged and angled outward, he said, demonstrating the shape with his hand.
Another team elsewhere might have built a plain, standalone cockroach, but his is a story in progress.
“There needs to be a unique angle, after all,” he said.
The brief for the fourth figure, the man with the cockroach, came a month ago, with the organisers telling him only to “make a good one”.
The final design was left to the artists, who say they were free to shape it as they saw fit.
They also made the heads for the other three figures to be set ablaze. Gesturing at them, Savej identified the one with the gold crown as Ravana, the other one in pink as Kumbhakarna and the one in the middle as Meghnad. The cockroach effigy is set to be about 30 feet tall, and the others about 65-70 feet.
Savej was less interested in the design and more interested in the meaning, which he did not think required much explanation.
“The party will be formed… they will move up from this level,” he said. “Because of the party, they are making it.”
The organiser’s denial did not trouble him either.
“It is politics,” he said. “For those who understand, it’s a hint; for those who don’t, it’s just a whole story in front of them, and a fool remains a fool.”
The Ramlila
Despite the organiser’s denial that the effigy has any political significance, the Ramlila in Netaji Subhash Place itself is rife with political messaging.
A photo of Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta features on all the event’s advertising posters, along with those of other organisers. There is a dedicated Narendra Modi Pradarshini, a wall-length exhibition that traces the Prime Minister’s life from birth and adolescence through his time in Gujarat and his recent achievements, including Operation Sindoor and the BRICS summit, using panels and photographs. It is the longest installation on the ground, and it stands a short walk from the stage where the Ramayana is performed.
The gates to the Ramlila are guarded by five installations. The one in the centre features Prime Minister Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP MPs Harsh Malhotra and Praveen Khandelwal, and national president Nitin Nabin. To their left, there is a “NAMO Cafe”, with a cut-out of Rekha Gupta sitting on a chair at its left corner. To their right, there is a BRICS installation, and at the far right there is a small Ram Mandir.
The BRICS theme runs through the ground. Its logo is on the main stage, and it is printed on the commemorative badges handed to invited dignitaries.
Goel said the arrangement was not a departure from tradition.
“Modi ji is working for the country, uniting the entire country, ridding it of Naxalism, and freeing it from terrorism,” he said. “And all this inspiration comes from Lord Rama. His work is inspired by Lord Rama.”
He cited the Ramayana as precedent.
“And what has Lord Rama done? If you look, when he went to the forest, he got the entire Red Corridor free of demons,” he said. “Prime Minister ji is also working with that same inspiration. Therefore, we have also shown events from his life, Operation Sindoor, etc.”
He went further and compared the Prime Minister’s work to Rama’s rule.
“Throughout the world, Lord Rama established Akhand Bharat and brought glory to India’s name globally. Similarly, whatever things bring glory to India worldwide, we highlight them (at the Ramlila),” he said.
The Ramlila has a dedicated theme, too, which Goel said changes every year and reflects what the committee argues adds to India’s glory. Previous editions were built around the Ramayan Express, the new Parliament building and Yashobhoomi, the convention centre in Delhi.
“Whenever we talk about good governance, we talk about Rama’s rule,” Goel said. “We made the BRICS theme because we created it to showcase India’s global leadership to the world.”
He dismissed the argument for separating politics from religion. He argued that good politics is guided by a religious philosophy.
“Within religion, within politics, there should be righteousness,” Goel said. “Because when righteousness comes into politics, only then will good work be done.”
The burning
On 20 October, Vijayadashami, the pink man and the cockroach climbing him will be set alight along with Ravana, Kumbhakarna and Meghnad. The effigies are packed with handmade crackers and their wooden frames are neatly covered in colourful paper. The organiser’s position is that the crowd will be watching filth in general go up in flames. The symbolism is not subtle; the show of power is explicit.
The makers of the effigy had also heard news about a possible guest. One of the organisers had stopped by earlier in the morning with instructions for the artists, Aamir said.
“He came and said ‘Beta, decorate it properly, Amit Shah is coming, he will see this.’ I am sure he will come, 100 per cent,” Aamir said. “We have been told so.”
The Ramlila committee has not confirmed the visit.
If it happens, the Home Minister will walk past a cut-out of himself, a wall devoted to Modi’s life and career, a cut-out of Rekha Gupta, a BRICS installation and a café named after the Prime Minister. At the extreme right, slightly apart from the other installations, stands the Ram Mandir.
(Edited by Prashant Dixit)