Can CJP's 'School Thik Karo' challenge traditional parties, poll planks in UP
Vibha Sharma
New Delhi, Sep 18 (UNI) The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) has launched the 'School Thik Karo' campaign to inspect basic infrastructure and student conditions in government schools across states.
The question is whether the CJP's education-focused attempt to corner the ruling BJP will resonate in caste-divided Uttar Pradesh, given the poll-bound state's political landscape, which has historically prioritised law and order, security and identity politics, along with deeply rooted ideological bases. Besides, as some BJP supporters add, schools are an issue not just in UP but across the country.
The CJP may be attempting to change how voters think about the issue in UP, but the fact is that Jan Suraaj Party's Prashant Kishor's similar pitch in neighbouring Bihar did not yield electoral results in the last Assembly elections in the state. But the mood has since changed, especially following the Gen Z's Jantar Mantar movement that shook the national capital as well as the Central government.
Therefore, the question-will the CJP campaign on school infrastructure help overcome entrenched caste, identity, and law-and-order-based politics? Observers say law and order usually dominates UP politics because of the state's sheer size, caste factors, and past precedents when strict policing and a tough stance on crime helped consolidate voter bases for parties. "For a vast segment of the electorate, immediate safety and visible law enforcement remain important concerns, which major political parties.
CJP's strategic approach is to frame dilapidated school infrastructure as a failure of the state. By linking broken classrooms and inadequate facilities to unequal opportunities for young people, the newbie is attempting to make basic public services a frontline political demand. According to analysts, the CJP's strength is not in electoral politics but as a pressure group.
For example, in Rajasthan, it pressured the state government to sanction a school repair fund. In fact, not just Rajasthan, as CJP's 'inspection' campaign moves across the country, other BJP-ruled states are also trying to fix government schools. However, the political success or impact of the movement on the political fortunes of parties depends on young, internet-savvy students who feel cheated or left behind by systemic failures such as exam leaks and unemployment.
Therefore, it is only if young voters in Uttar Pradesh forget caste considerations and rally behind the education campaign that the CJP will be able to construct a narrative that can change the traditional political debates in the state.
